Exiles: The Lost
by avengersreborn
Summary: This is my take on Marvel's Exiles. Putting together a team that isn't exclusively mutant and that lacks a Tallus to tell them what their missions are.
1. Chapter 0

**Getting Lost**

**by Gary Jones**

**

* * *

**

**Sue Storm**

Sue Storm left the party and walked to her bedroom at the top floor of Four Freedom Plaza, the magnificent Manhattan skyscraper that had been a gift from Alyssa Moy, the computer wiz whose company was currently attempting a takeover of Microsoft.

The party was in celebration of Sue's eighteenth birthday but all the fun had drained out of her when Reed and Alyssa had picked HER party to announce their engagement, Sue angrily tore of the little black dress she had bought for the party, as she slammed her bedroom door closed, and flung it into the corner of the room as she collapsed in tears on her bed.

Her mind drifted back to the day, three years ago, when her Dad had taken her and her younger brother Johnny to watch the launching of a new design of space shuttle that could cut the journey time from the Earth to the Moon, to only hours instead of days.

Her Father was a well respected surgeon and while he was engrossed in conversation with another surgeon, a weird guy by the name of Steven Strange, she and her brother snuck away for a closer look at the experimental craft.

It had been an impressive sight from the observation lounge but the Freedom Flight, which the ship had been dubbed in to the hope that it would help mankind to the freedom of the stars, was truly a magnificent sight up close, Sue often thought back to that day and wondered if it was just bad security or an act of fate that had enabled her and Johnny to sneak onboard for a closer look at the ship's controls.

Ben Grimm had been Reed Richards collage room-mate and the pair had kept in close contact over the years, so when Reed offered him the chance to pilot the Freedom Flight into space for the first time, he had jumped at it.

Ben had become world famous as a daredevil test pilot and his reputation had been firmly cemented when he leapt from his plane to the shredded cockpit of Air Force One in time to land the plane safely and save the lives of the President and most of those onboard.

Somehow, perhaps again it was fate, the FF launched with Sue and her brother onboard and only pure luck and the new G-Force buffers Reed had designed into the ship prevent the two Storm youngsters from dying, crushed by the massive pressure of travelling seven miles per second.

Something however went wrong.

A strange object passing through the solar system bombarded the Freedom Flight with more cosmic radiation that the ship's shields could handle and Ben Grimm barely managed to engage to autopilot to return them to Earth before he passed out.

The ship crashed on a small deserted island, miraculously all four onboard found themselves alive but forever changed, as the cosmic radiation had altered their body chemistries and given them fantastic powers.

Sue shook slightly as she remembered her brother's anguished cries as his body altered into a huge man shaped pile of craggy orange stone, Johnny had always been so proud of his looks, spending more time in the bathroom than she ever could.

In her minds eye she saw again Reed begin to fade in and out of sight and how Ben's body had been reduced to the consistency of taffy and she remembered her own horror as she caught fire but didn't burn.

The flame raged out of her ability to control and only the quick thinking of her brother, who used his new stone body to cover the other two, saving them from what she now called her nova burst.

For some crazy reason the four of them vowed to use their new powers in defence of mankind as the Fantastic Four.

She was only 15 at the time and her brother was a year younger, so for a long time she could only be a part time member of the team, she was now eighteen, out of high school and had chosen not to go on to collage, much to her father's disappointment, and work full time as a member of the Four.

She had always harboured a crush on Reed, he was handsome, smart and was far more generous with the money his inventions brought in than he should have been, which often left them short of operating funds, that's why when an old flame of Reed's, Alyssa Moy, came back into his life with the offer of a headquarters and funding, she was really excited.

Sue tried to like Alyssa but as it became more and more obvious that she and Reed were falling in love, Sue really began to dislike her, and now they had to choose her party to spoil with their news, like it couldn't wait to the next day.

"Hey matchstick you ok?" the friendly face of Ben Grimm appeared through the opening door "you looked pretty upset…..whoa sorry about that," Ben stretched his eyes out of their sockets and round to the back of his head as he caught sight of Sue, who had only been wearing the smallest of black g-strings under her dress.

"Its ok Ben you can come in," Sue pulled one of the white sheets from her bed and wrapped it around herself "I'm a little more decent now."

"You looked pretty damn decent the last time I looked," Ben replied as his eyes snapped back into place as he entered "but I'm guessing that I'm not the guy you wanted to hear that from," Ben sat down on the edge of the bed where Sue was now sitting in the centre, blanket wrapped around her and sitting cross legged.

Sue brushed her straw coloured blonde hair from her eyes and looked at the friendly face of Ben Grimm "I like Reed ok!" Sue said looking down "and I know its not rational to blame Alyssa for me and him not hooking up but right now I really hate that…"

"Whoa down a bit hothead," Ben Grimm threw his hands up "I know for a fact that Reed considers you one of his closest friends but he's twenty years older than you, he just doesn't look at you that way," Ben's voice was kind and Sue while she didn't want to hear it she could also see the truth in his words.

"I know, your right of course but…"

"Still hurts right," Ben smiled and ruffled Sue's hair as he stood up to leave "but trust me when I say that the hurt does go away, I never thought I'd get over Alicia until I hooked up with Carol."

"The head of security at NASA," Sue said with surprise.

"The very same," Ben's head said with a smile as it disappeared though the door two seconds after his body.

Sue got up from the bed, letting the sheet fall from her body as she did so, and walked into the bathroom that was attached to her room and turned on the shower, letting it run until the temperature was just how she liked it, when it was she slipped off her underwear and went to step inside, just as she did so a shimmering portal, purple in colour, formed where the shower door had been, instead of walking into a shower Sue found herself in a barren desert landscape, one with a chilling breeze.

"Why do I always have to be kidnapped when I am butt naked," she threw her arms into the air and shouted with frustration and anger "FLAME ON!."

**Phoenix**

**The Xavier Institute for Higher Learning – Salem Centre - Westchester County– New York**

Deep in the grounds of the Xavier Estate, in a small clearing that was hidden from those in the main house stood a small chapel, it was in this small building that the body of Piotr Nikolayevich Rasputin lay in state, waiting for the hearse to arrive that would take the X-Man's body to the crematorium.

"I really can't believe he's gone Professor," Kitty Pryde fought back the tears that were building, she had been crying all day and she was determined to remember Peter, as his friends called him, in their happiest time together.

"He had become so withdrawn since his sister died, so when he learnt that her essence, her soul if you will, was trapped in limbo, he raced to rescue her, would that he had come to the X-Men for help, we may have found a solution that did not require his sacrifice."

Professor Xavier and Kitty Pryde stood in the advanced medical bay that was located in one of the underground level of the Mansion, sitting across from them on a bed being examined by Dr. Henry McCoy was Peter's younger sister Illyana "its so strange to see her as a teenager again Professor when the last memories I have of her are as a dying old woman."

Across the room Illyana watched Professor Xavier and her friend Kitty deep in conversation, probably about her or her brother, she thought.

Her life had been a strange one, kidnapped from her home in Russia on the Ust-Ordynski Collective and then snatched away to limbo, finally escaping to discover that while eight years has passed for her only moments had passed on Earth since she vanished, the reason her brother didn't come to save her was that he had only just discovered that she was missing.

Then oddly she remembered dying, her frequent use of her mutant powers, which she and others had thought were teleportation disks but were in fact portals through time, had left the cells of her body saturated with temporal energy, she was literally aging to death.

The greatest minds of the scientific community, Tony Stark, Hank Pym, Henry McCoy and Reed Richards, who actually managed to persuade Dr. Doom to assist, desperately searched for a cure, someway to bleed off the excess energy.

It was Doom who came up with the idea to use his Time Platform to drain off the energy, dispersing it throughout the time stream, the only problem was getting Illyana to Latveria.

Dr. Doom had been forced out of his country when it was invaded and occupied by the forces of the demon Blackheart and while the mystical wards which protected Castle Doom were still in place they would have to fight their way through Blackheart's demon hordes to reach it.

Illyana heard the plans and did not want her friends and family to sacrifice themselves so that she could live, even Dr. Doom was beginning to show signs of developing a soul and how could she let him give up a chance to become the man he should have been, the chance to be a better man.

When the heroes arrived to take Illyana to the Pogo Plane, the fastest available vessel, she had used the last of her strength to transport herself to a time in her life when she lived in Limbo and there her body crumbled into ash.

It was year later that Wanda Maximoff, the mutant mystic of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, sensed a great pain emanating from Limbo and she was able to receive one word 'PIOTR' and given the circles that she moved in she guessed that this would mean the X-Man Colossus.

She secretly contacted Colossus and together they managed to find a natural portal to the realm of Limbo, where to their horror they discovered a Teenage Illyana, cured of her aging illness but being tortured by the demonic denizens of Limbo in the name of their master, a high demon named S'YM.

Demons like deals that will gain them the souls of the innocent so Colossus and the Scarlet Witch struck a deal, Illyana for the soul of Colossus.

They tricked S'YM however and after he had freed Illyana and returned her to Earth the demon tried to take Colossus soul but instead of going into his possession was cast, through an enchantment of the Witch's, to a far better place, somewhere some might call heaven.

The Scarlet Witch returned the X-Man's body to the Mansion and left swiftly to rejoin her Father Magneto in his plans for mutant domination.

"Well Dr. McCoy how am I," Illyana asked as she pulled the warm pale green hospital robe around herself.

"Well Ms. Rasputin I am happy to say that you are a perfectly healthy 19 year old," the Beast replied, his face upside down as he hung by his feet from a heating pipe "there is no sign of your previous temporal decay and whatever means the demons used to recreate you apparently left you 100 human, you no longer possess the mutant gene."

A few minutes later Kitty had taken Illyana to her room for a change of clothes, while Professor Xavier had stayed with Beast to discuss the results of the medical "no mutant gene at all, how can you be so sure this is truly Illyana, after all we do only have the word of the Scarlet Witch to what really happened," Xavier sipped his green tea while Beast poured himself a cup with his feet.

"Her DNA, with the sole exception of the lack of mutant gene, conforms exactly to Illyana Rasputin and both she and Peter's body contain the trace energies that are associated with travel to Limbo," Henry now sipped his tea, again using his feet to hold the cup "there is no doubt in my mind that the young woman that I have just examined is Illyana Rasputin."

"I can't believe that you saved all my old clothes," Illyana said with joy in her voice.

"It's the professor you should thank," Kitty replied sitting on the edge of the bed, watching Illyana change into a simple yellow summer dress "you should see what he keeps in the attic, I've never known such a hoarder, you'd never guess it by looking at the man."

Kitty and Illyana both laughed, it was something that made Kitty remember her time with Illyana on the New Mutants "I miss Peter so much, I am SO happy to have my best friend back but damn that man why didn't he ask the Professor or Cyclops for help," Kitty wiped a tear from the corner of her eye "then I could have the two people I love most with me, instead of just having one of them."

Illyana finished putting on her dress and sat down next to her friend "Peter was always bull headed and he probably didn't want to risk your lives in what should have been a suicide mission for all involved," she took one of Kitty's hands in her own and stood "now lets both go and say thank you to my brother for giving me back my life."

The pair of young women had just entered the clearing that contained the small chapel when it burst into flames, the explosion sent both flying backward, and then the flames that engulfed the chapel seemingly began to take on a shape of their own, forming themselves into the shape of a bird 'was it an eagle' Kitty momentarily thought to herself but then she realised 'it's a phoenix.'

She grabbed Illyana's hand and pulled her to her feet "we'd better go and get the Professor."

Illyana however would not move "but my brother's in there, what is that bird doing to him," she said fighting back the tears "I don't know but I'm betting the Professor will be able to figure it out."

The advantage of having the world's most powerful telepath as your headmaster is that the instant anything goes wrong help arrives seconds afterward, help in this case in the form of the Uncanny X-Men, Professor X, the Beast, Jean Grey, Cyclops and the man called Maverick.

"Jean you were once used as a template for the Phoenix Force, can you get any impressions for its mind," Professor Xavier rubbed his temples, the strain of trying to probe the consciousness of the cosmic entity showing on his face.

"I can feel its mind growing at an incredible rate, like its going from infancy to adulthood in minutes," the same strain was showing on Jean's face as well.

"Well all I want to know," Maverick asked as he removed the safety from his gun "is what the hell does it want with the body of the ruskie, doesn't this thing usually go for chicks," he pointed at Jean then looked at Illyana who was crying while being comforted in Kitty's arms "for the snowflakes sake, it better not be anything bad."

"I think my dear Mr. North that your question about what the Phoenix Force wants with the body of our departed colleague is about to be answered," Beast said as he pointed in the direction of the burning chapel, where the assembled team could just begin to make out the form of a person emerging from the flames.

The X-Men all looked open mouthed at the figure that now stood before them, the shining living metal body of Colossus had been reformed into a female body of living steel, which was slowing turning to flesh.

When the woman had completely turned to flesh Maverick was the first to speak "is it just me or does that look exactly like Jean, except for the hair being a different shade and all," Maverick was playing with the safety of his gun as he talked "how can this even be possible."

"The Phoenix Force is capable of restructuring matter on the molecular level, I would surmise that it was simply more familiar with this shape," there was a matter of fact way about the Professor as he spoke.

"How can you just stand there and say all that like this was some kind of science experiment, that thing has defiled the body of my Brother," Illyana was full of rage as she pulled away from Kitty's arms and she looked as if she was about to attack the Phoenix Force with her bare hands.

"The thing ain't acting hostile kid," Maverick rested a hand on Illyana's shoulder "I don't think it means any harm."

"But its used my brother and taken all I had left of him away," she pounded her fists on the yellow armour of Maverick and he stood still and let her burn out her rage.

"This is the judgement of the Living Tribunal," all the X-Men present stopped and stared at the head that had materialized over the head of the Phoenix, it shimmered like a hologram.

"For the destruction of the D'Bari star system and the death of those who lived there, the entity known as the Phoenix Force has been sentenced to live the span of a human lifetime on the planet Earth," the voice of the Living Tribunal sounded in the heads of all those present.

"Illyana Rasputin," the uncovered of the Tribunal's three faces turned toward the young blonde Russian girl "the Phoenix Force was corrupted before by the desires of the form it had taken, the body of your brother was chosen because it was devoid of spirit, the Phoenix Force will now have to learn what it means to be human without using another person as its template."

"But what if it goes bad again, we barely survived it last time, I barely survived it last time," Jean pulled away from her husband and moved closer to the Tribunal "I demand that you stop it from accessing it powers so that we can be safe," there were tears in Jean's eyes as she remembered the large portion of her life that had been stolen as the Phoenix Force lived her life for her.

"No purpose would be served by completely sealing off the Phoenix Force from its power," the Tribunal looked into the tear filled eyes of the Earth woman "however your concerns are justified and I hereby limit the amount of power the Phoenix Force may draw upon," with those words the image of the Living Tribunal faded from sight.

"Well now that he's finished talking would someone mind getting me some clothes, I think I'm about your size," Phoenix said as she looked at Jean, the surrounding X-Men were stunned by its ability to speak "what? I've been around pretty much since the dawn of time, do you really think it takes me long to pick up a language," Jean took a step toward the Phoenix, not completely sure on what she or it would do next.

Suddenly the space behind the Phoenix cracked open and a massive purple coloured energy portal began to pull the Phoenix in "I can't stop myself being pulled in at this reduced power level," Phoenix shot an accusing glance toward Jean, who despite a moment hesitation was now using her telekinetic powers to help resist the pull of the portal, it was all for nothing however as Phoenix was pulled through the portal.

Her flesh turned back to steel and the flaming phoenix raptor manifested around her body, only to be caught in a pair of huge grey arms.

"What is it with this place and flaming naked chicks," Phoenix was set gently to the ground and she quickly turned around to see a young woman whose body was covered in flame up to her neck and the grey man "I don't know how I got here but if it keeps spitting out babes like the two of you ol' Joe Fixit is going to be one happy guy."

**Joe Fixit**

Your name is Mr. Joe Fixit but to the world press you are still known as the Incredible Hulk.

It was the day that the Gamma Reactor would be brought online and for Dr. Robert Bruce Banner it was the day he had been working toward all his life.

If it was a success the Gamma Reactor could provide enough energy to power all of California with far less harmful radioactive waste than current nuclear reactors but all parties present had not figured on the interference of the international terrorist group known as Hydra.

Hydra planned to detonate the new reactor in an attack that would wipe out a massive portion of North America but the group had reckoned without the courage of one of the US Marines assigned to guard the facility, with no thought for his own life, only that of others, he dived for the communications console and managed to send out a brief cry for help before he was gunned down.

That small signal was received not by the military but by an unlikely selection of heroes, Tony Stark quickly donned his high tech armour to become War Machine, Harry Cleese decided to end his exile from the world of men and took back the name he had not used in an age, that of the Prince of Power Hercules and Dr. Henry Pym and his lovely wife and assistant Janet used the amazing chemicals they had discovered to alter their size and become the Ant-Man and Wasp.

The four heroes soon had the forces of Hydra on the run but the count down to destroy the reactor had already begun, the only way left to shutdown the reactor was the enter the chamber that was located just outside of the central core but it would mean death for whoever entered.

Dr. Banner decided that no-one else should die for his creation so he sacrificed himself.

But Banner didn't die instead every time the sun went down he would transform into a monstrous green beast, the Avengers, as War Machine, Hercules, Ant-Man and Wasp has taken to calling themselves, tried everything they could to help Banner rid himself of the alter ego that had started to call itself Hulk, but only succeeded in altering the transformation so he became the green monster whenever he was angry.

Hydra attacked again and using newly developed Gamma powered weapons tried to take Hulk and use him as a weapon but the weapons had no effect on Hulk and only served to drive him away into hiding.

For years it appeared that the Hulk had simply vanished of the face of the Earth but as the Avengers would later discover the Gamma weapons did have an effect but not on the Hulk physically, they had altered the chemical balance in his mind.

Slowly the Hulk began to form an intelligence of his own, using memories of the gangster movies that Bruce Banner loved to watch, and was spending less and less time as Banner, the green colour slowly leeching from his skin to a grey tone.

The Hulk eventually ended up in Las Vegas where he fell into the employ of a mafia boss, working for him as muscle, the Don was so impressed by the Hulk he used his influence to create an identity for his new employee that of Mr. Joe Fixit.

Of course no matter how low a profile he kept, a seven foot tall hulking grey man would eventually end up being reported and the Avengers, after a lengthy fight managed to capture Fixit.

The team was horrified by Fixit; the kindly Bruce Banner had been replaced by a gangster personality that had the emotional maturity of an adolescent.

The Avengers federal liaison, Henry Gyrich, convinced the government that Fixit should not be thrown in prison but rather that his strength could be better utilised if he was offered a deal, all charges would be dropped if he would agree to serve his term as a member of the Avengers.

Fixit sat at the opposite side of the A shaped table to the other members of the team, the roster now consisted of a newly revived Captain America, War Machine whose Mansion home was used as the team's base, Carol Barton the Olympic archer turned superhero known as Hawkeye and Hercules choice of replacement on the team the Norse God Thor.

Carol Barton couldn't believe what she was hearing from the mouths of Thor and War Machine who were both freely throwing insults at Fixit over his lack of intelligence compared to Bruce Banner, Captain America was desperately trying to get them both to stop but while there was no man who could formulate battle field tactics better than him, he was sorely lacking in people skills.

"And Gyrich insisted that cap be in charge," Carol whispered to herself, mere moments before Fixit had launched himself across the table and grabbed hold of War Machine, pinning the armoured man to the wall by his throat.

"Next time you consider throwing an insult at me shell-head," there was a cracking noise coming from War Machine's armour "just remember that oh so intelligent Banner isn't crushing the life out of you right now but the dumb as nails Hulk."

"Release the armoured one now foul troll or taste the power of Mjolnir," Thor raised the hammer that contained enchantments from All-Father Odin up to Fixit's eye level.

"you and your magic mallet there don't frighten me goldilocks, why don't you run off and eat some of the bear's porridge," Fixit was nearly snarling and was now ignoring completely the frantic pleas of War Machine that he could not breathe.

"it seems I must show you some respect for your betters foul beast," energy crackled around Thor's hammer before being released as a massive bolt of magical lightning.

The force of the blast made Fixit release his grip on War Machine, who was instantly attended to by the Avengers butler Jarvis "that is it you jumped up nut job," Fixit pulled himself up from the ground where he had impacted after hitting one of the adamantium reinforced walls of the meeting room "the next time you put me down you better make sure that I don't get back up," Fixit ripped off his shirt and purple jacket and began to stalk toward Thor who was swinging Mjolnir, ready to fend off the attack that he knew was coming.

"This stops NOW," the red, white and blue star shaped shield of Captain America embedded itself in the floor between the two men, who instantly removed their gaze from each other to the star-spangled Avenger "if you have problem with the treatment you are getting from the other members of this team Mr. Fixit you come to me or Gyrich," Cap stabbed his finger in Fixit's direction "you do not attack your team-mates, do I make myself clear."

"As crystal flag boy," Fixit held his rage back, Cap might be a stuck up and overgrown boy scout but Fixit did respect him, even if it was grudgingly.

"I'm outta here," Fixit stormed out of the meeting room.

"I'll go talk to him Cap, you deal with the other two," Hawkeye headed out of the room, leaving Captain America to talk to the remaining Avengers.

"Now you two lets have a discussion on how to treat team-mate with courtesy and respect," Cap pulled his shield from the floor and slung it around his shoulders "I have been accused of not being a people person, maybe that is true but you two will listen to me or I will use the techniques Drill Sergeant Fury used on me in boot."

"Hey Joe wait up," Carol had to jog just to keep up with Fixit whose huge strides moved him at quite a pace.

"Why bother just so you can rag on me too," Fixit stopped and stiffened slightly "sorry, uncalled for," he said as he stomped off again.

"Joe Fixit actually apologising, has Christmas come around already," she joked as she caught up with him "look give me fifteen minutes to get out of costume and meet me at the gates, I think you could do with some fresh air and female company."

Fixit nodded his agreement and watched as Carol disappeared around the corner of the hallway "oh! And you might want to put another shirt on," she called as she went to her room.

Fixit waited by the gates to the Avengers Mansion, occasionally signing an autograph for those brave enough to approach him "do you have anything in your wardrobe except those purple suits," Carol joked as she walked up to Fixit, she was a good six feet tall but the gamma powered Fixit still towered over her.

"Not many colours go with grey skin," he replied as he signed his final autograph "and they are all hand tailored for me," Fixit opened the lapel of his jacket to show the maker label.

On viewing it Carol in a surprised voice exclaimed "how can you afford to get them made there, I know the Avengers pay a stipend but I don't get that much."

A broad grin grew on Fixit's face "I charge it all to Stark's personal checking account."

"You don't, that's awful," Carol couldn't help but laugh at the revelation "how did you find out the account details, I would have thought Tony's computer security was top notch."

"He came back to the Mansion one night drunk as a mattress with some floozy and left his wallet on the meeting table, I just accidentally wrote down the details," Fixit shrugged his shoulders and tried to put an innocent look on his face.

"Well I think for that act of carelessness we should let Mr. Stark treat us to a slap up meal then," Carol grabbed hold of one of Fixit's huge hands and pulled his through the gates and out into the city.

After a slap-up meal, generously but unknowingly paid for by Tony Stark, the pair of Avengers found themselves walking past a Manhattan bank when the alarms suddenly started to blare and customers began to stream through the glass doors.

Inside a young female teller was sobbing by the body of the bank's manager, whose head was lying five feet away from his neck "from the look of that wound I would say that his head was teleported off," Carol said as she kneeled down beside the body.

"Haw haw just how many teleported off heads have you seen," chortled Fixit mockingly.

"Actually this would be my third," Carol said as she threw him a smile, enjoying the look of surprise on his face.

"You're quite right it was a teleporter who killed him," Carol managed at the last second to move out the way of the grabbing arms of a man who appeared out of a black portal "they called me the Spot, my dear," the man whose top half was sticking out of a black portal disk was clothed in a white costume that was dotted with black dots "and you my nubile new acquaintance will get to take a ride with me back to my hideaway where we can get to know each other better," the Spot reached out lecherously for Carol only to be met instead by the huge grey fist of Fixit.

"Keep your hands off my lady."

Within thirty minutes a special security unit from the super-human prison known as the Vault had arrived to take the Spot into custody "so I'm your lady am I," Carol leaned on the bank's outside wall and smiled at Fixit.

"Just a figure of speech," Fixit replied.

"I swear Mr. Fixit, that you are blushing," she teased as she walked up to Fixit and placed two hands on his chest, as soon as they were there however Fixit was pulled through a glowing purple portal.

All those present turned their gaze toward the Spot who also had a surprised look on his face too "don't look at me"; he said "that wasn't one of mine."

**Peter Parker**

With great power must come great responsibility, it is that saying that comes to the front of Peter Parker's mind every time he remembers his late Uncle Ben, what would he think of Peter now though if he could see him chocking the life out of the Crime Lord known as Hammerhead due to the flat plate of adamantium that had been used to repair his skull after an accident.

"The next time the Kingpin asks you to pay him tribute, you had better pay him," Hammerhead began to gasp for air as soon as he was dropped to the floor of his office, finger shaped bruises formed on his neck "the next time the Kingpin might ask me to rough you up a little."

It was five years ago when young Peter Parker was attending an experiment in radioactivity at Empire State University that he was bitten by a spider that had become irradiated by straying to close to the experimental equipment.

He went to bed with a fever that night, only to awake the following morning with strange new abilities, he had the proportional speed, strength and agility of a spider, as well as he would later discover an uncanny sixth sense that warned him of danger 'if I got all these powers from a spider' Peter thought 'perhaps I can walk on walls as well', it was sound reasoning but wall-crawling as it turned out was not among his new powers.

He had never been that physical preferring to spend his time in the pages of a good book, a straight A student; he was often teased by the school bully, a jock called Flash Thompson.

A couple of days after he gained his new powers his patience finally snapped and with one blow Thompson lay spread out of the floor of the hallway with blood gushing from his nose, the other kids all cheered his name, this time not in jest but in adulation and the girl Peter had always liked, Gwen Stacy, cheered the loudest of all.

That night Peter couldn't sleep, his mind was in knots, all the time he had put in to being a better student had gained him nothing, not friends, he couldn't even get the girl he liked to pay any attention to him, but with one blow, one swift outburst of violence, he had gained everything that he had desired at school.

When he saw an advert in a local newspaper that a major wrestling federation was looking for new talent and were going to hold an event to see if people had what it took, that fact that it was also going to be televised formed the plan in Peter's mind.

He designed a simple masked costume with a mask, he would use his new powers to go through all comers and then unmask himself live on television, doing that would gain him all the attention that he had ever wanted.

The only flaw in the plan was how he was going to sneak out of the house past his Uncle Ben and Aunt May.

As it turned out it was not as difficult as Peter thought it was going to be.

Their next door neighbour was a huge wrestling fan and as it happened had an extra ticket, so asked it Peter would care to come with him and his daughter Mary Jane to the event.

When at the arena Peter snuck away and registered himself to fight under the name of the Human Spider and when later he easily took down all the other hopefuls in the ring and the professional wrestlers he was declared the winner of the event, however in all the excitement he forgot to remove his mask as he had intended.

As he was walking to the office of the organiser of the event to claim his prize money and fight contract, he witnessed a man with a gun robbing the owner of the stadium of all the gate receipts, not wanting to risk his life when it was just becoming what he wanted he let the thief rush past him to freedom.

The wrestling federation owner also saw what had happened and because Peter had not stopped the thief, which he could have easily done, he tore up the contract Peter was to sign in front of Peter's horrified eyes.

More than a little angry at this turn of events Peter made his way back to Mary Jane and her father and explained his absence by saying that he had suddenly gotten a bout of diarrhoea, he also said that he was really upset about missing the event, the anger on his face convincing them that his lie was true.

Peter was silent throughout the drive home and was stunned when he saw the police cars surrounding his home, he ran from the car only to find his path blocked by an officer who broke some awful news to him.

His Uncle Ben and Aunt May had been shot dead by a burglar and that while they had managed to corner him in one of the old warehouses a short distance from Peter's home, he was managing to hold off the police from capturing him.

Peter ran from the people who tried to comfort him, determined to extract his own revenge on the person who had taken the last two members of his family from him.

Using his new abilities it was child's play to sneak past the police cordon and enter the warehouse, unseen by all.

From the darkness Peter observed the man who had killed the last members of his family and when the police searchlight illuminated his face, Peter was horrified to discover that it was the man he allowed to escape earlier because he didn't want to mess up his life, his in action had cost him the lives of the two people he cared about the most.

The police entered the warehouse when the man they were after had stopped throwing obscenities at them, what they found when they were inside was a young man with blood covering his hands, the thief they were after had his face battered beyond recognition.

Peter offered no resistance as the police dragged him away to a cell for the night; the case would light up the television and newspapers more than any murder before it.

The case of a young superhuman who had in a fit of anger battered an armed man to death, with the current rise in enhanced human hatred the extenuating circumstances of the case would not even be considered by the court.

As circumstances would turn out the case would never make it that far, all due to payoffs made by a man called Wilson Fisk, who also ran all of the crime in New York as the Kingpin.

The Kingpin arranged for all the evidence against Peter to disappear and during this time Peter saw all his remaining faith in the system vanish, as lawyers and police officers accepted payoffs, people he had before believed to be incorruptible.

Under the guidance of Fisk, Peter found himself encouraged to explore the limits of his powers and was given the best education that money could buy, every day Peter was bound more tightly to the desires of the kingpin.

Five years later Peter Parker was the top ranked operative in the Kingpin's criminal organisation; his real name was not known to anyone but Fisk, to all the others he was know only as the Stalker.

"Was there any trouble with Hammerhead my boy," asked Fisk as Stalker entered his penthouse office.

"A couple of his boys tried to get a little rowdy but when I put their heads through a wall they quietened down a little," beneath the black mask he wore Stalker had an evil grin on his face.

Peter had never understood why the Kingpin made him wear the costume when he went out on 'business,' it was completely black and covered him from head to foot except for the white eye pieces and the small white spider motif in the centre of his chest, all the white in the costume could be morphed into the black however for when maximum stealth was needed.

Peter gave a brief report on what had occurred that night and left to his apartment one floor below, it was decked out like a palace and after a shower and a change of clothes, he slumped down in the leather armchair in front of the big screen TV Peter thought to himself how lucky he was to be working for the Kingpin.

Peter flicked the on button on the remote control and when the screen flickered to life he was greeted to an image of a red haired beauty in a skimpy blue bikini frolicking through the surf on a white sand beach.

"Quite stunning isn't she my boy," Peter whirled out of the armchair as the voice of Wilson Fisk boomed in his apartment "I believe you knew her," the Kingpin smiled but Peter like many others thought that a smile on the Kingpin's face usually meant bad new for someone, they would never tell him that however, they valued their lives far too much for that.

"She lived next door to me when I was still living in Queens," Peter turned and looked lustfully at the woman who was advertising a new home waxing product "I've got to say that she has filled out a little since then."

"Perhaps you would like to pay the lady a visit, it would take moments for me to find out her address," the Kingpin offered.

Wilson Fisk left Peter apartment to get the address for the young man with another large smile on his face, he had learned long ago that if you wanted people to remain loyal you had to give them something in return every now and then, what was this woman anyway to him, let Peter have his fun with her.

Now dressed again as Stalker, Peter leapt through the rooftops of the city, Fisk had told him that the red haired woman was being put up by the advertising company in one of Manhattan's best hotels.

Stalker sat on top of hotel and looked down to the pavement and wished that he had gotten wall crawling as part of his spider-power package, he didn't really want to risk his life with the Kingpin's latest gift 'web shooters,' he had called them but apart from breaking into the hotel through the roof access way and triggering a mass of alarms, he had no other choice.

Stalker double tapped the palm of his right hand with his two middle fingers and watched as a thin thread of an unknown long-chain polymer fly out from the nozzle, it had adjustable settings so the 'web' could be made into other things like a net or rope, it was the rope setting he wanted now.

With the web secured on the roof Stalker climbed down to the balcony of the red haired beauty's room, the intentions on his mind were definitely not for the best.

"God I so need to get some sleep," Mary Jane Watson walked out of the en-suite bathroom, her long red locks wrapped in a white towel and her firm nubile body was wrapped in a white towelling robe that stretched tight across her bosom, the usual bounce in her step had been worn away by a heavy days shoot, there wasn't a muscle in her body that didn't ache from having to pose all day.

"And people think this job is easy," MJ took a mineral water from the honour bar and began to walk toward the bed when the glass double doors that led to the balcony exploded inward, she tried to scream as the black clad figure burst in but her mouth was quickly covered by a sticky substance, like a spiders web she would later tell police, she turned to run for the door but a blow to the back of her head made her slump to the floor unconscious.

Mary Jane tried to move when she woke but found that she couldn't move anything but her legs, she forced her eyes to open, even though the pain at the back of her head complained about even that simple act, she was still in the bedroom and fastened to the wall by the same substance that covered her mouth, she had also been stripped of her towel and robe.

Peter stared at the body of the woman tied up in front of him, usually he liked it when they struggled and screamed but he had taken to much of a chance kicking the balcony doors in, he couldn't risk anymore noise, the Kingpin would not want any undue attention brought to one of his operatives.

"ah! What the hell, I've been wanting to try a little bondage," he leapt from the bed where he had been sitting to stand in front of MJ, who immediately began to kick at him with her legs, and he let them strike him to show her that she couldn't hurt him.

"Now I wont lie to you bitch," Peter said as he grasped MJ by her throat "this is going to hurt a lot," he forced her legs apart with his free hand and moved in-between them "so you might as well struggle a lot, I'll enjoy it more if you fight," MJ could only stare into the white eye pieces of this man's mask as he moved closer to her, she felt helpless, she couldn't even scream because of the web covering her mouth.

'I'm going to enjoy this', Peter thought was he reached for the invisible waist band of his costume but found to his displeasure that Mary Jane's eyes were now focused behind him "you better damn look at me bitch while this is happening," he screamed at the terrified young woman but as he raised his free hand from his waist to strike her face he felt a massive force pulling him backward, he managed to turn and saw a large glowing portal, purple in colour 'like the colour of Aunt May's kitchen' he thought as it pulled at him.

Peter fired a web to anchor himself against the pull and managed to prevent himself from going any further toward it "see you later you bastard," Peter heard MJ cry out from behind him, it had been an hour since he had webbed up her mouth and it had now dissolved, he felt the soles of her feet against his back and MJ kicked out with all her strength.

Mary Jane's kick combined with the pull of the portal caused Peter to lose his grip on the web and he went head first through the portal which snapped shut as soon as he was inside "I hope you burn in your own hell you $&er," she cried before she began to scream out for help.

"I am going to kill that bitch," Stalker screamed as he landed face first into a sand dune.

"you know I don't expect to hear that kind of language from Spider-Man," Stalker pulled his head from the sand as he heard the woman voice, perhaps if he was lucky he thought it was MJ who had got pulled inside the portal with him.

"So you wearing a symbiote there or what," Stalker looked at the young blonde in front of him with horror, not because every part of her body below her neck was on fire but because he recognised her as Susan Richards, a member of the Terrific Three, whose younger brother he had murdered for the Kingpin because of a very large unpaid gambling debt.

**Next Issue**

The Lost find out just why they've been taken and arrive on their first new world, straight into a fight with Ben and May Parker?


	2. Chapter 1

**Issue #01**

**It's a Strange New World**

by** Gary Jones**

**Sue Storm's World**

In the private bathroom of Sue Storm, on the top floor of Four Freedoms Plaza, Reed Richards was busy jerry rigging his latest scanning device to detect new wave lengths.

"Is there something that the great Reed Richards can't solve," Alyssa joked as she rested her hands on her fiancés shoulders.

"This is something that I didn't think was possible," Reed replied as he turned from the shower door to face his bride to be "the energy that was used to transport Sue from the building contains both temporal and dimensional frequencies, it just shouldn't be possible."

"You'll work it out honey and find a way to bring her home," Alyssa smiled as Reed ran his free hand through her hair "that is why I love you."

"I thought that for another reason entirely," Reed grinned as he looked into Alyssa's eyes and smiled at his love's trust in him.

**Mr. Fixit's World**

War Machine scanned the pavement with the sensors in his suit and using his internal communicator opened a channel back to Captain America at Avengers Mansion.

"My armour has recorded some very strange energy frequencies at this location that match nothing I have in my internal database."

"So the Spot's claim that the portal that snatched Fixit away wasn't one he created is true then?" the star spangled Avenger asked from his chair in the Mansion's com-room.

"The Spot uses the Darkforce dimension to create his teleportation disks and thanks to the Winter Guard I am very familiar with its energies," War Machine felt a cold rush go down his spine as he remembered his encounter with Darkstar when the USSR tried to invade Alaska.

"Get back here as soon as you can Tony, the team will crack this together," Cap spoke into the microphone, turning off the link to the armoured Avenger just as another team-mate entered the room.

"I don't think that Tony is going to be all that keen to get Joe back do you Steve," Carol Barton said with the distrust of Tony Stark evident in her voice.

"Tony is quite keen to get Mr. Fixit back where he belongs, something about owing him for five suits," Cap had a puzzled look on his face at the time, not understanding fully what Tony had meant.

Carol laughed "the only thing Tony likes more than himself is money."

"Actually your wrong on that," Cap said as he got to his feet "he loves being an Avenger more than anything and that includes looking out for his team-mates," Cap put an arm around Carol's shoulder "Tony's the smartest man I know and he will find a way to bring Fixit home."

"I hope your right Cap I really do," Carol sighed as she hoped that Fixit would soon be home and ready to continue what had started between them.

**Phoenix's World**

"Well that's not something you see every day," Maverick was the first of the X-Men present to speak, his yellow armour reflecting the last of the purple light from the portal as it faded from view "So Prof can you do a brain-tap to find our lost bird."

"I have tried to do so David but the Phoenix is not in the immediate vicinity any longer," Professor Xavier's hover chair slowly rose from the ground where it had fallen, the failure of its systems caused by the energy that the portal had spat out.

"I shall endeavour to use Cerebro to get a more positive fix on the Phoenix's location by using Colossus' mutant signature," with a quiet hum the chair carried Professor Xavier away.

**Stalker's World**

"My Dear I can not apologise enough that something like this could happen in a hotel I own," Wilson Fisk strode into the room where Mary Jane Watson, now dressed in a grey sweat shirt and pants, was giving her statement to the police.

"If you are agreeable I would like to offer you the use of the penthouse free of charge," Fisk put on his most concern face for MJ but in truth was more worried about where his top operative had been taken.

"That's a very kind offer Mr. Fisk but I'll be going to stay at my new agent's apartment for now," Mary Jane got up from the bed where she was sitting and grabbed the plain canvas bag which held her belongings.

"I wasn't aware that you had hired a new agent Ms. Watson," Fisk was shocked by this revelation, MJ's last agent had been in his employ and Fisk did not like losing a valuable asset.

"I told her not to let anyone know Fisk," an all to familiar voice boomed out from behind Fisk from the apartment doorway.

"Ah! The blind lawyer from Hell's Kitchen," Fisk turned around and smiled at the man he now faced "how long has it been Mr. Murdock."

Matt Murdock walked into the room, using his cane to make sure that there were no obstacles in his path, he didn't really need the cane of course as the same chemicals that had stolen his sight had also given him a kind of radar sense, still it never hurt to let people think you were just a blind man.

"It been since my partner was murdered Mr. Fisk, since then I've got out of the law business and into show business," Matt allowed a small smile to come onto his face "lets go Ms. Watson, I have a cab waiting downstairs," Mary Jane walked past Matt and made her way down to the street.

"Please thank for your staff for me for taking such good care of Ms. Watson," Matt turned to leave pausing as he did so to say "I'll Dare to say we'll be meeting again Mr. Fisk."

After making sure that their was no-one else within earshot Fisk walked up to the remaining policeman in the room "I want a copy of all the evidence, one of my people was lost here and I want him back," the policeman was on Fisk's payroll and went about getting Fisk what he wanted.

* * *

"Just what the hell did you think you were doing you little weirdo," Fixit pinned Stalker up against the small outcropping of rock where they had made camp for the night with one hand, the other was balled into a fist ready to strike. 

"I...was...just…trying…to…have…look," Stalker managed to croak out through the pressure being put on his chest. 

The group of four had sheltered by the small rocky outcropping and taken warmth from a fire created by Sue's cosmic flame, Fixit had given up his jacket to Phoenix and his shirt to Sue so that they could preserve their decency and keep Stalker's wandering eyes off their bodies. 

That had been the plan but Fixit had woken up as morning was breaking in the desert environment they found themselves in, to find Stalker slowly unbuttoning the shirt Sue wore as she slept. 

Phoenix had a comforting arm around Sue who was more angry than upset about what had happened. 

"You let him down right NOW," a voice came from behind them "your going to need that man alive in the days to come," the voice came from a tired looking old man, whose grey hair was unkempt and black three piece suit was tattered and torn "things are moving too fast and that's why I had to arrange this meeting here in the Dimension of Manifestations instead of the usual location," the old man walked up to a bolder and sat down "so Mr. Fixit are you going to let him go." 

"Not until you give me a damn good reason to do so," he replied, increasing the pressure on Stalker just a little bit. 

"I am called the Timebroker and am one of many to bear the name; you have all become unstuck in time due to errors that have occurred in other timelines, to get home you must repair these faults," the Timebroker's breathing was laboured and his eyes kept darting around as if he was expecting something. 

"So just how are we supposed to know what to do to fix things, we going to get an Al like in Quantum Leap or what," Sue ask with her usual perkiness returning to her voice. 

"Susan Storm you will have a Tallus," the Timebroker held out his hands and an golden bracelet appeared with a large green jewel mounted at its centre "it now just remains to see which of you will receive the device." 

Kabboomm 

A huge mass of lightning flashed across the sky and the Timebroker shouted out in fear "this is very bad, he's found you already," the Timebroker leapt of the boulder, the Tallus slipping from his grasp as he reached his feet "I must send you to the first world now before he kills you." 

The Timebroker gestured with his hands and the purple energy began to surround the four companions and it transported them away just as a large shadowy figure appeared in front of the Timebroker. 

"You think you have saved them don't you old man but all you have given them is a little more time," the figure shimmered as if he didn't truly exist in the same realm as the Timebroker but a smile could still be made out on his face "and look at your feet, how will they succeed in their mission without a guide," the figure faded from the Timebroker's view as he pointed to the Tallus that rested on the ground. 

"This could be very bad," the Timebroker said as he picked up the Tallus and slipped into the time stream.

* * *

They landed HARD. 

Over a quiet street in Queens a portal opened and spat Fixit, Phoenix, Sue and Stalker out onto the hard asphalt, Fixit was first to his feet but Stalker was the first to speak. 

"So does anyone think that Tallus thing might have been important?" Stalker said as he finally removed his mask and revealed his face to his forced team-mates. 

"You have blonde hair," Sue remarked with surprise when she saw the short cropped blonde hair "so pervert boy what do we call you sans costume." 

"If you have to call me anything its Peter," he swallowed "Peter Parker," the only one who called him by his real name anymore was the Kingpin but keeping the secret didn't seem so important at the moment he had thought to himself. 

"Well isn't this a bit of luck," Stalker said as he finally realised where they were "we're just a couple of houses down from where I used to live, if this place is anything like my reality we will be able to get our bearings a little." 

They walked the short distance to Peter's house and while the door was locked, it didn't present a huge problem for someone with the proportionate strength of a spider. 

"If you head on up the stairs to the left you'll find the bathroom, in the opposite room you should be able to find something else to change into," Peter said as Phoenix and Sue waked past him and disappeared up the stairs. 

"Listen creep," Fixit said as he squared up to Peter "squirt seems to have forgotten what you were up to this morning but I haven't, if I even see you looking at her funny I will pop your head off." 

"Listen you touched me before because I wasn't paying attention," Peter replied trying not to raise his voice in his Aunt's house "if you ever touch me again," a confident look came to his face "I can guarantee you that you won't live to even try again." 

Fixit was enraged as Peter just turned and walked away, at any other time in his life he would have taken the runt up on his challenge but as Hawkeye had tried to drum into him on more than one occasion that was a time and place for "HULK SMASH," he growled as he stomped off into the kitchen. 

The four sat around the kitchen table in the version of Peter Parker's home in this new reality that they had found themselves in. 

Much to Sue's surprise she had actually found some clothes that she would like to dress in, not old woman dresses like she had imagined, she had on a pair of blue hip hugger jeans and a white cotton crop t-shirt with a print of a kitten doing the two fingered salute. 

Phoenix had oddly chosen something from the wardrobe of the man of the house, a plain white shirt and leather jacket along with a plain black pair of trousers. 

Fixit had now reclaimed his shirt and jacket and after a spin through the washing machine and dryer was once again clothed in his purple suit. 

Peter had stayed in his Stalker costume but with the mask off and had morphed the white spider embalm that was usually in the centre of his chest back into the black costume. 

Peter had been quite surprised as he looked around the house, the date on all the calendars were of the year he left his home reality, 2003, but he could find no pictures or photographs that would indicate that a version of him lived in this house, although their were countless photos of his Aunt May and Uncle Ben but again there was something odd, the photos were of them as young people who were barely out of their teens, there wasn't one of them as the old couple Peter remembered them to be. 

The cupboards of the kitchen were sparsely stocked but there was milk in the fridge and several boxes of a popular brand of chocolate breakfast cereal in the pantry so three cereal bowls and a mixing bowl of Choco Krispies were served. 

"So what do you think is meant to be wrong in this reality, what are we meant to try and fix," Sue asked between mouthfuls of artificially enhanced vitamin chocolate goodness. 

"I believe we should rest here for the night and in the morning head into the city to investigate," Phoenix offered up obviously not enjoying what she had to eat. 

Fixit had abandoned the spoon he had been using and was now consuming the cereal directly from the bowl, holding it like a tea cup "thing I don't get is where all the people are, why haven't the cops come and pulled us in for B&E." 

"Perhaps they were all abducted by aliens years ago, that would account for why my Aunt and Uncle look so young in all the pics," 

Peter finished his cereal and got up to put the bowl in the sink ready to be washed "hey just because this isn't the home of MY Aunt doesn't mean I'm going to leave the stuff to wash itself," he said when he saw the shocked looks from the others. 

"Despite our shock at your sudden domestic attitude the idea of alien abduction is not a good one," Phoenix responded as she passed Peter her finished bowl "the streets and buildings are all too well maintained for the people to have been missing for any substantial length of time." 

"So while we got some time to kill does anyone know what the dimension of manifestation is," Sue slid her bowl across the table, not wanting to have to get too close to Peter, an act that did not go unnoticed by Fixit and Peter himself. 

"I wouldn't mind knowing that myself," Fixit said as he threw his finished bowl across the room in an act of distain for Peter. 

"The Dimension of Manifestations is a place where the abstract entities of the universe, who do not possess true physical forms, may go to be more easily seen and to be able to communicate more easily with…," Phoenix took a deep breath "lesser life forms." 

"Hey I'm not sure I like being described as a lesser being," said Peter as he retrieved Fixit's bowl from where he had flung it. 

"It was not meant as an insult," Phoenix paused for a moment in thought "well maybe in your case it was," a smile came to Phoenix's face as she could see the rage being held back behind his eyes. 

"Perhaps we should tell each other our powers," Sue began putting on her best Reed voice "after all the Timebroker would not have recruited people with super powers if we weren't likely to get into a fight." 

Phoenix was about to speak up and point out that in fact the Timebroker had informed them that they had just become unstuck in time and had not actually been recruited, but after a moments thought had decided against it, after all despite the bravado the young woman was putting across it was obvious that she was very nervous about the situation. 

"Very well I will begin," Phoenix said. 

"So you have absolutely no telepathic powers," Sue asked Phoenix. 

"As the Phoenix Force when I possess a host body I enhance that persons own natural abilities but the Living Tribunal has denied me access to much of my power," Phoenix had a small quiver in her voice that was unnoticeable to the others, it was there because for the first time Phoenix felt vulnerable, it wasn't a hosts feeling but for the first time Phoenix was experiencing her own emotions. 

"Well I got my flame powers when I passed through a belt of cosmic rays," Sue laughed "that sounds like a comic book origin doesn't it." 

"So let me get this straight," Peter said "on your world's I'm Spider-Man, I'm hated and feared by the public, blasted by the media and the cops and even though it often causes me grief in my private life I always do the right thing." 

"That's pretty much it," replied Sue. 

"Is he nuts or something, I mean why on earth would you continue to protect people who hate you for it," Peter shook his head "I'm blasted by the cops and press as well but at least I get damn well paid for what I do." 

"And just what is it you do for a living Mr. Parker," Phoenix asked him. 

"Well lets just say I take care of problems for a very prominent businessman that would like to keep his name divorced from the type of jobs that I do for him," Peter smiled because he was proud of the work he did. 

"Yer a mob enforcer like me ain't you," Fixit said, a smile on his face as well, knowing that at least everywhere in the universe Spider-Man wasn't such an upright do-gooder priss. 

"Before I answer that I'm going to repair the front door," Peter began to walk from the kitchen "you don't ever want to see my Aunt May when she's got a mad on." 

"That is the last time I let you drag me to that club May," Ben Parker opened the door to the house in Queens that he had purchased just before he had met May "if I hadn't known someone that lived nearby we would have been trapped outside during the day." 

"Calm down Ben everything turned out alright didn't it," May Parker pushed herself up against her husband, his back against the door post, her long raven black hair blowing in the cool night breeze. 

"You know that our kind is not welcomed in the city," Ben pushed her back pressing himself up against her now, his face close to her own "I've never been able to be angry with you for long though have I," he moved his mouth close to May's and they began to kiss. 

"Christ I'm going to be sick if this carries on for much longer," Fixit turned away from his vantage point at the top of the stairs "get down there and see if they will be willing to help us out," Fixit ordered Peter. 

"Hi there dimensionally displaced family," Peter walked down the stairs toward the people who were younger incarnations of his family, his Stalker mask gripped in his hand "I bet this is a little bit of a shock?" 

"You can say that again," said Ben stepping away from May "its not often meat presents itself to us so easily," with a speed defying his human appearance Ben leapt at Peter. 

"Pal never attack a guy with a spider-sense," Peter leapt out of the way, guided by his uncanny abilities "guys a little help here if you please," Peter shouted out as he pulled on his mask to become Stalker. 

"Vampires, I really hate vampires," Fixit shouted as he barrelled down the stairs toward May Parker, remembering the time his Avengers had been forced to battle the forces of the Daywalker to prevent him from enabling all vampires to walk in daylight "and someone better get the other one off Stalker," he added as an after thought. 

"Aw do we have to," Sue said as she sent a burst of flame in between Stalker and Ben Parker who were locked together fighting on the staircase. 

"I believe that a wooden stake through the heart is a most effective weapon against a vampire," Phoenix armoured up, transforming her body into organic steel and stretching the seems of the clothing she wore to near breaking point "try this would you," Phoenix pulled one of the slats from the banister and tossed it to Stalker. 

Stalker caught the stake and stared his vampire Uncle in the eyes "last chance to calm the hell down and stop," it wasn't an offer Stalker made to anyone but he still felt some love for his departed family, it was perhaps the only thing he felt at all anymore. 

"You are meat and I can't remember the last time I tasted a live one," Ben bared his fangs and then leapt again at Stalker, only to met the stake instead. 

Defying all natural laws the stake entered Ben Parker's body far easier than it should have done and in moments all that was left of the vampire was a desiccated corpse lying on the stairs. 

"I hope Aunt May doesn't make me clean that up," Stalker smirked, whatever he may have felt for this version of his Uncle disappearing in the thrill of the kill "Aunt May," he cried as he bolted for the front door." 

"Come here ya little floozy," on the front lawn Fixit attempted to grab hold of the vampire Aunt May but the lithe young vampire was easily evading his grasp. 

"Your too slow you grey beast, perhaps I will not drain you dry after all," May jumped onto Fixit's back and put an arm around his throat, "maybe I keep you as a love slave," May bared her fangs and tried to bite Fixit but his skin was too tough for her to bite through. 

"Too bad sweet heart, I don't meet to many girls who got the strength for me," Fixit leaned backward and fell onto his back, pinning the vampire beneath him "any of you guys fancy lending me a hand out here," Fixit cried out as he lay on the ground with the vampire pinned beneath him. 

A scream was heard from inside the house and May whispered "Ben no." 

"If you trying to get laid big man I think you're the wrong way around for it," Stalker said as he stood above Fixit, looking down at him. 

"Screw you pal just shut this foul mouthed trollop up," Fixit sniped back, fed up of the multiple insults that May was shouting at him. 

Stalker stood above the webbed up body of May, seemingly unable to move. 

"Do you want me to do it," Phoenix asked him. 

"Well whoever is going to do it better hurry the hell up because we seem to attracting a crowd," Sue pointed to the other houses, out of which other vampires were beginning to emerge. 

"Sorry May but I owe you too much to let you live like this," Stalker grabbed one of the posts from the white picket fence that was surrounding the garden and drove it through the web into May's heart, after a brief burst of flame she turned into ash. 

"Curious this vampire has terminated in a different manner than the one inside," Phoenix knelt down and ran one of her hands through the ash that had been formed by the vampire and the burnt webbing. 

"Yeh I'm sure it's a subject for a discovery channel special but can we please get the hell out of here," Sue sent a blast of flame at a vampire that came running at her, incinerating it instantly. 

Stalker, Sue and Phoenix all turned to look at Fixit who said "I ain't making the plans here but in a pinch…" a huge grey fist met the head of another vampire and took it clean off "Phoenix armour down and get on my back, Sue flame on and carry Stalker." 

"I just wish these vamps had kept some unstable molecule clothing in there closets," in a brilliant burst living flame engulfed Sue's body, burning what she was wearing off her body "I sure hope that suit is flame proof buddy," Sue asked Stalker as she grabbed him. 

"Are they still following us," Fixit shouted as he began a fresh leap, his powerful leg muscles carrying him and his passenger far into the sky. 

"Yes and we seem to have picked up some new fans as well," Sue shouted as she drew in closer to Fixit "we can't keep running like this all night, we have to find somewhere to hole up." 

"But where," shouted Stalker who was being held aloft by Sue holding him underneath each arm "the instant we stop moving those things are going to be on us, there's no way we can hold them off until sunrise." 

On the roof of an out of town shopping mall two men watched the chase through high power binoculars. 

"Do you think they'rehuman like Wanda said," asked the black man who was wearing a colourful red and white costume. 

"Probably we haven't seen many supers since the takeover, do you think we should bring them in," replied the older white man who was dressed in a pair of oil covered overalls, a metal brace on his right leg helped him cope with damage caused years ago., his wild hair and rough beard now grey with age. 

"If we don't there just drones to use against us or food for the elite, I'll go get them," Sam Wilson had seen his family killed by vampire's when they had been forced to live in the ghetto that was set aside for the human worker who did the daylight jobs vampires couldn't. 

"I'll go tell Wanda she'll need to boost the power to the wards," the older man began to walk to the roof access door "be careful out there Sam, their ain't to many of us good guys left." 

"Don't worry this is one bird who always makes it back to roost," Sam Wilson activated the small high powered jets that were located under the wings of his costume and soared into the air. 

"GET OFF ME," Fixit bellowed as he threw of the pack of vampires who were covering him, many were thrown off the roof of the building they had been forced to land on. 

The vampires were keeping clear of Sue, frightened by her flame but she was throwing herself into the fight in a desperate attempt to keep the off the fallen Stalker who had been knocked unconscious by a rock thrown by one of the following vampires, his spider-sense had warned him of course but Sue had been unable to dodge it in time. 

" Foul creatures you dare to attack a child of Mother Russia ," the entire fight Phoenix had been shouting at the vampires in Russian but hadn't seemed to notice and several vampires had broken their teeth on her organic steel skin. 

"Joe they've grabbed Stalker," a group of four vampires and scaled the side of the building and grabbed Stalker's unconscious body. 

Sue had been unable to stop them as several vampires, which had shown uncommon resistance to her flame, had caused her to move from his side to protect herself. 

"Can you reach him my little snowflake," Phoenix shouted out in an English voice that had a strong Russian accent. 

"No their moving too fast," Sue blasted another vampire with her flame, this one burning to ash easily. 

"If you people want to live follow me now," Sam Wilson, the Falcon, swooped out of the sky, using two 9mm automatics to pump silver bullets into the large vampire who had Fixit pinned in a bear hug. 

"Figures you'd be alive in this hellhole Snap," Fixit threw the corpse of the large vampire that had been holding him into a group of others, scattering them like bowling pins. 

"I have no idea who you are talking about pal just come with me," Falcon emptied the clips of his guns before heading back in the direction of the Mall. 

"Pint size go now, me and Phoenix will cover you and follow on," Fixit barked at the young woman. 

"But what about Stalker and you guys," she asked while now hovering a short distance from the surface of the roof. 

"GO NOW," Fixit shouted again, his jacket and shirt now just rags. 

A tear came from Sue's eyes and was immediately turned to steam by her flame but this time she obeyed the order and took off after the Falcon. 

When Sue was a reasonable distance away Fixit charged through the vampires on the roof across the where Phoenix was fighting and babbling in Russian "come on nut job now its our turn to go." 

Phoenix nodded and swung round on to Fixit's back, kicking several vampires as she did so "and please don't refer to me as nut job," she said as Fixit bounded after Falcon and Sue, her voice now returned to English with only the slightest trace of Russian, the voice she had when Fixit had first met her. 

The vampires that could fly had immediately given chase and were closing on the small group as they approached the Mall. 

"Tell Wanda she's better have her mojo up and running, were are coming in and coming in hot," Falcon spoke into a communicator built into the right glove of his costume. 

"Both her and Jennifer are in full trance now"; a voice spoke back to him over the link. 

Falcon landed gently on the gravel topped roof of the Mall quickly followed by an even more graceful landing by Sue, Fixit and Phoenix's landing wasn't so graceful and they slammed into the roof and skidded across until coming to a stop on the opposite side to Sue and the Falcon. 

"Not to be rude or anything Mr. Wilson but what's to stop them killing us all now," Sue asked as the flying vampires drew in closer. 

"Just watch and learn," the Falcon smiled at Sue "because those dumb &$'s never seem to." 

When the vampires came within a hundred feet of the Mall's outer wall they suddenly came into contact with an invisible barrier of mystic force, which as each creature came into contact with it sent out ripple of red energy across its surface. 

The vampires pounded on its surface, frustrated that their prey was in full view but unreachable to them. 

"We appreciate the save there Snap," Fixit patted the Falcon on the back nearly knocking him over "but if you could spare some muscle we need to get back out here and rescue one of our guys before he become chow for some suck head." 

"That won't be necessary," a voice spoke out from the roof access doorway "your friend won't be eaten tonight; he'll be taken to the ruling elite of the vampire nation only they get to feed on enhanced humans." 

Fixit, Phoenix and Sue all turned to see the old man that had been on the roof with the Falcon earlier "my name's Abraham Whistler and you people have found your way into all kinds of shit."

* * *

**Next Issue**

The Lost learn how the world came to be ruled by vampires and try and recruit some help for a raid to save Stalker.

Meanwhile Stalker meets with other time unstuck people.


	3. Chapter 2

**Issue #02**

**Ramblings**

**_by Gary Jones_**

"I ain't never gonna get used to seeing that one," Abraham Whistler stood at the edge of the gravel topped roof waiting for the sun to rise. One of the many types of vampire had just flown past him and his companion; the large grey skinned Joe Fixit.

"Yep, the sight of a flying head pulling its guts along behind it in a glass jar is not something you'd forget in a hurry," Fixit said in agreement "even when me and the Avengers took on the Daywalker, we saw nothing like that."

"So," Whistler took a cigar out of his jacket pocket, lit it and took a lungful of smoke before continuing "you're really from another dimension?"

"Yep, charged with repairing the faults in other timelines before we can get home," Fixit took the cigar which Whistler offered and took a deal drag, virtually exhausting the cigar "only problem is we don't have a clue what we're meant to do, although here I suppose it doesn't really take much to figure out we have to smash some vampires."

Whistler took back what remained of his cigar, just a small butt, and took a final puff before stubbing it out under the heel of his boot "come on inside and I'll tell you how the suck-heads took over the country."

"So do you want to tell me why you started muttering away in Russian back on that roof," Sue asked Phoenix, as they walked around the inside of the Mall, closely watched by guards and magicians in case they were agents of the vampires.

"I made this body from the vacated body of the X-Man known as Colossus," Phoenix replied "I chose to remake it into the image of a previous host because I felt more comfortable being female, however it appears that my recreation of the body of Jean Grey has been a little too accurate."

The pair stopped at the top of a set of long dead escalators and took a look around the place that they had found sanctuary. All the stores on the ground floor had been converted into weapons caches and medical facilities and even though there was a mystical shield surrounding the Mall, there was a group of well armed guards on the main doors, all with wooden stakes strapped to various parts of their bodies.

"It appears when I made this body in her image I also duplicated the mental links that gift Jean Grey with the powers of telekinesis and telepathy; it is the latter that is causing me problems."

"I don't get it," Sue replied, wishing not for the first time this all started that she had paid more attention to the descriptions of various superhuman powers that Reed always seemed to give when the team came into conflict with other super-humans.

"The telepathy is allowing me access to Colossus' memories which remain in this body; I am having a little trouble separating those memories from my own, I was taken by the Timebroker before being able to fully complete the joining."

"And I guess being thrown into a battle with a bunch of blood crazed vampires didn't help?"

"Well it certainly didn't help matters," Phoenix replied with a grin.

* * *

"Next time get bitten by a radioactive fly," Stalker said as he shook the grogginess from his head. The side of his head where it had been hit was still throbbing but the swelling was almost gone, his Spider-Powers gave him enhanced healing, not as fast as SHIELD Director Howlett but faster than a normal person. 

Stalker muttered another rather vocal curse, when he tried to move he discovered that he was fastened to the wall of the room he was in. 

He could feel that his mask was still in place and around him he could hear other people moaning. What disturbed him was that it was the kind of moan people gave after a half hour alone with him. 

Stalker forced his eyes open and was shocked and with the things he had seen and done himself he was a very difficult man to surprise. 

The walls were plain and featureless; it had an antiseptic smell that even came though his mask. 

There were other people in the room fastened to the wall in the same manner as Stalker, however unlike him they had an array of medical equipment fixed to their bodies. The vast majority of the equipment was dedicated to keeping the prisoners alive but several tubes were draining their blood 'like cows in a milk shed' Stalker thought to himself as he strained at his restraints. 

"So are you another clone," a weak voice at Stalker's left side asked. 

"A clone of what," Stalker snapped angrily in return as he turned his head and found himself looking into the drained face of Peter Parker. 

* * *

"It first began when the President's daughter was found murdered," Whistler sat behind a desk in what had once been the Mall manager's office "when they finally found her killer it turned out he was a vampire." 

Whistler pulled a half full bottle of scotch from one of the desk draws and poured himself a large glass, he went to pour one for the man who sat on the other side of the desk, thought for a moment, and then handed him the rest of the bottle. 

"Little fishy that they all accepted he was a vamp wasn't it," Fixit asked after taking a slug from the scotch bottle. 

"The government then passed a law that outlawed all supernatural beings. Special units were setup to take out everything from Vampires to Werewolves." 

"I fail to see how a purge of the super-natural could result in a takeover of the country," Phoenix walked into the office and stood next to where Fixit was sitting "please continue," she said to Whistler. 

"The purges were all a sham. Instead of hunting down and killing the super-natural the units actually cut a deal with them. They would lie low and wait for the command to attack and one night everything came out to play; this Mall had the dubious benefit of having Dr. Steven Strange doing his shopping at the time of the attacks, he was able to throw up an enchantment around the building that prevented anything super-natural from entering, of course it was hastily thrown together spell, that's why we need our mystics, Wanda and Jennifer, to top it up every now and then." 

"Now of course we know that there is more than one type of vampire," the aged hunter continued "but there are three main broad varieties. The Lowly breed is those people that have been turned by an ancient virus, the other vamps treat them like dirt because they can actually be cured, and the ingredients for the cure though are damn hard to come by. The next up the ladder is those who have had their human souls replaced with a demon one, odd thing about those is that they all seem to rise from the grave with the fighting skills of a martial arts expert. Last but definitely not least is the top rank, the Draculas of the Vampire Nation, these ones have all the powers you've seen in movies, turning into animals, mind control and they have a real annoying habit of turning into mist when you are trying to stake them, basically if you don't catch them in the day when they are sleeping you're as good as dead." 

A man in a dirty Marine's uniform appeared at the door of the office and informed Whistler that there was something wanted to enter the Mall, a something that needed Whistler's permission to be allowed inside. 

"To cut a long story short," Whistler said getting to his feet "the Vampires then betrayed their allies and took sole control of the country, turning it into their own idea of a civilisation, one where human are kept like cattle and they can pop down the local store for a carton of blood instead of milk." 

"I'm guessing that you've told that story more than once," Phoenix asked half laughing at the quick way that Whistler had condescend the story down. 

"More times than you can know pretty lady," the three of them walked down the Escalator that led to the main doors "every so often we get groups in from other parts of the world who try to help and just end up as dinner on a vampire's plate." 

* * *

"Every now and then one of us dies from blood loss, then a day or two later they return as fresh as a daisy and ready to be drained again." 

Stalker was only half listening to his counterpart, he was far more focused on the room he was in and how he could escape. 

The restraints that held him against the wall looked like normal chains and manacles, however even when he strained his muscles he couldn't break them, it was likely that they were made from some kind of super tough metal like adamantium. 

It was also puzzling that he had been imprisoned with a duplicate of himself, after all Uncle Ben and Aunt May had been a young couple, a pair of vampires admittedly but young ones. 

"Why have I got the awful feeling that we're not the first bunch of kidnapped &ers that the Timebroker has dumped in this reality?" 

Of the other nine people in the room, three raised their heads to look at Stalker. 

"Let me guess he threw a lot of that 'unstuck in time' garbage at you right," a blonde haired man said from the opposite side of the room, a man dressed in a blue chain-mail uniform that Stalker instantly recognised as being that of Captain America. 

"Yeah he was all 'gotta fix the timelines if you ever want to get home' and things like that to you right!" a woman was fixed on the wall to Stalker's right, her dark blonde hair and was stained with blood and her face showed the signs of a recent beating, the tattered clothes she wore barely covered her. 

"It gets me why the guy just doesn't write this reality off instead of throwing more bodies at it, can't they tell that this place is a lost cause," the Peter to Stalker's left said. 

"Well rather than waiting around to get drained," Stalker looked around at the others "or in your case, drained more! What do you say that we escape?" 

"And just how do you suggest we do that, it's not like we haven't tried," the man in chain-mail snapped "do you really think we want to be used like this." 

"You guys just don't have the benefit of a alien made costume," Stalker closed his eyes and began to concentrate on his costume. 

With a simple thought Stalker is able to morph the white segments of his costume, the white eye pieces and the white spider chest symbol, into the black of the rest of the outfit. If he concentrated harder however the costume could do a lot more. 

"Will you look at that?" the blonde haired woman said in surprise. 

The material at the end of Stalker's fingers began to stretch and harden, slowly they formed themselves into the shape of lock picks which when complete, stretched and began to seek out the manacle locks. 

In moments, the locks released and Stalker was dropped to the floor of the cell. 

"And to think that I never thought that those sessions with Monroe in Cairo would come in useful," Stalker said as he rubbed the stiffness out of his joints. 

He looked at the three prisoners who had showed recognition of the Timebroker and asked "so anyone want to help me kill the bloke in charge." 

* * *

"Come on you buggers let me in," standing at the edge of the barrier surrounding the Mall, a man with a blanket over his head cried out to the people inside. 

"Why does that man have a blanket on his head," Sue asked, looking uncomfortable in the grease stained overalls she was now wearing. 

"Because that is a vampire and with the sun up I imagine he doesn't want to burst into flames," Whistler said as he arrived at the doors, followed close behind by Fixit and Phoenix. 

"Given that everyone here is pretty much dedicated to killing vampires, why is one banging on the shield wanting to come in," Sue asked puzzled. 

"Because some of the vamps want to return to the old days of the hunt," Falcon joined the group at the door "they like to taste the fear on what they eat, they just don't get that from the processed blood they have to drink now." 

"Your always in the know ain't ya Snap," Fixit said to the Falcon who just shock his head and wondered why this Hulk would keep calling him Snap of all things. 

"Do you think you can allow him to pass through without taking down the whole shield?" Whistler asked the woman with short red hair standing just in front of him. 

"He is still in possession of the talisman that Jennifer created for him so it should be a simple task but I would recommend full security until he has passed through the barrier," Wanda Maximoff began to gesture and mutters an incantation and moments later the barrier in front of the vampire began to shimmer. 

* * *

"Well that's a relief I can tell you," the blonde women rubbed her wrists where the restraints had been holding her to the wall "but you should watch living costumes, they have a habit of turning on you when you least expect it." 

Stalker didn't reply as he couldn't be less interested in what the woman had to say if he tried. The only reason he had freed her and the others at all was even he was stubborn enough to think he could break out of a vampire stronghold alone. 

"We'll get no help from these others, they are just too far gone," as soon as he had been freed the blonde man had identified himself as Steve Rogers, Captain America, and had begun to check on the others in the blood letting chamber. 

Peter Parker had begun to work on the door and Stalker found that he was angrier about how quickly this version of him had been able to understand the foreign technology, than he was at being trapped in a vampire stronghold. 

"Well if you guys don't mind I'm going to slip into something a little more comfortable," the blonde woman touched the right side of her face which was almost completely covered by a large purple bruise. 

In seconds the slender blonde woman had changed into a short hairy man. 

"Howlett," Stalker exclaimed as he suddenly found himself looking into the face of the one man who had actually come close to catching him. 

"Well that makes me regret all those fantasies I've been having about you," Peter said before turning back to work on the electronic door locks. 

"An explanation would certainly be appreciated," Cap said, the tone of his voice betraying no surprise at the sudden change in his fellow prisoner. 

"Back on my world I'm known as the Mimic, basically if I touch someone I gain the ability to change into a copy of their physical form and if they have a special power I get that at ¼ of their level," Mimic pointed to the bruise on his face which was slowly vanishing "and as any injury I sustain is carried across when I change forms, I find it useful to keep someone on my selection with a healing factor." 

"So are you really a chick," Peter asked from where he was working. 

"Nope, I'm a guy. My real name is Calvin Rankin, the woman I looked like before is the alter ego I use for the press, no-one has ever come close to working out who I really am yet," Mimic smiled with Wolverine's lips "and you wouldn't believe how much Playboy paid me for a photo shoot." 

A laugh came from everyone in the room able to "yes! I've finally cracked it," Peter exclaimed as he finally managed to trigger the electronic lock "ah crap!" when the door opened several sets of hands quickly grabbed onto Peter, his spider-sense had blared its warning but in his drained state Peter had just wrote it off as another headache. 

"You humans are so pitiful," a beautiful woman with short black hair and a tight leather outfit stood in the doorway, she glanced once at he soldiers who were looking up at her while holding on to the struggling Peter "ok you can drain him," she smiled at them. Immediately they went to work sucking his blood from his veins. 

She looked back at the others still in the room "did you really think we wouldn't be monitoring this room, it amused me to allow you to think you could escape," she had an evil grin on her face which told the people she was looking at they were going to die. 

"You know something," Mimic said to Stalker. 

"What's that," he replied as he readied himself for the coming attack. 

"There's another reason I like using Wolverine's body apart from the healing factor," his arms spread and his forearm muscles flexed releasing his bone claws "actually there are six good reasons." 

* * *

"About bloody time," the vampire with a blanket over his head ran through the doors of the Mall, smoke rising from his body "another soding minute and I would have been toast," he threw the blanket off himself to reveal his features. He was wearing a red shirt over a black t-shirt and wore black leather trousers, his short cropped hair was dyed blonde and there was a tram line cut in his left eyebrow. 

"Joe Fixit meet William the Bloody better known to his friends as Spike," Whistler introduced the new arrival to the grey skinned Fixit "and one word of advice, never turn your back on him." 

"That's not bloody fair," Spike protested "I haven't steered you blokes here wrong yet have I." 

"Oh no?" Falcon reared up "and I suppose our raiding team getting taken out last week was nothing to do with you." 

"Hey! If your team was stupid enough to walk straight into an ambush how can I take the blame?" Spike took great delight in winding up the Falcon. 

"Why you lousy vampire punk," Falcon lunged at Spike who easily dodged out of the way. 

Off balance Falcon hit the ground but quickly sprang back to his feet. 

"Care to try again pretty bird," Spike smiled, his face now twisted into a mockery of what it had been. It now seemed like a combination between human and bat. 

"Stop this all now," Whistler interrupted before the fight could escalate "we don't have time for these childish games. Spike go and wait for me in my office." 

"Of course Sir!" Spike threw Whistler a salute, his face morphed back to human as he left. 

"And Sam you go and cool off, I'm surprised at you for getting so easily riled up," Whistler shook his head in disappointment but he knew that Sam had a good reason to be upset, he had been the one to plan the raid on one of the main vampire weapons depots. 

* * *

Mimic was lost in a rage. 

He used Wolverine's claws to gut the nearest vampire; the return stroke severed another's head. 

His healing factor had his body pumped full of adrenaline to keep him going, at only a ¼ strength it was still incredibly potent. It was Mimic's stock of super human abilities that had made his blood such a favourite on the Vampire Leaderships dining tables. 

Stalker was using his great strength to punch through the chests of vampires and pull out their hearts, it wasn't often he got to let loose like this, the Kingpin didn't like messy jobs, they brought down to much heat. 

"We have to work together, there are too many of them for us to fight alone," Cap shouted out to the other two but if they heard him they gave no indication. This wasn't the type of situation he was used to finding himself in. His whole body ached and it wasn't from exhaustion, it had only been a little over a month since he had received the super-soldier serum and the effects of the vita-rays had not yet fully stabilised its effects on his body. He had only just received his new uniform when he was taken by the Timebroker and sent with his team into this reality, the Timebroker timing could have been better as they arrived in the middle of the night right in the centre of Manhattan. 

The fight was taking place on a first floor walkway which went around a motor pool. 

In the motor pool at this moment in time were two milk tankers, although the liquid they were waiting to take away was not from cows. 

Life had become so boring since all of the United States had fallen under the domination of the Vampire Nation, that these little diversions were all that kept Selene from going mad with boredom. They had not yet faced the full might of the forces under her command and in the spirit of 'fair play' she was only sending the lowly vampires against them. 

'Foul creatures,' she thought to herself 'transformed into a vampire by a virus, they're little better than the humans they drink' she smiled as the three escaped prisoner tore through the guards, the more of these filthy halflings they killed ,before falling themselves, the better. 

"She's letting us win," Cap said as he ended up back to back with Stalker "we should have been overwhelmed by now," Cap was almost dead on his feet but he was damned if he would fall to these creatures 'almost as bad as the Nazis,' he thought as another powerful punch sent a vampire over the railings of the walkway. 

"Why don't we hotwire one of those tankers and get the hill out of here," Stalker said as he used his webbing to create a shield around the three of them "that won't hold them long, they're nearly as strong as I am, so can anyone hotwire a truck." 

"And just where are we supposed to go bub!" Mimic growled, blood and gore dripping from his extended claws "this whole damn city is crawling with vampires, who knows how far the damn things have spread?" 

"So gender bender what do you suggest?" as Stalker spoke the web shield began to break down. 

"Buy me a couple of seconds to change into a new form and I'll show you what I can do," Mimic's eyes rolled back in his head and he began to mumble "no…no….no." 

"What the hell is he up to?" 

"I usually only keep five people on tap but I retain the form and power of everyone I've ever touched, it's like going through a mental rolodex to find the right person," Mimic's body began to change again. The body of Wolverine gave way to the even shorter and stockier body of Harvey Elder, known as the Mole Man. 

* * *

"I don't recall saying that you could help yourself to my scotch," Whistler walked into his office to find Spike sitting behind his desk knocking back slugs from a freshly opened bottle. 

"Hey old man you just remember who it was who brought the damn stuff here in the first place, if it wasn't for the info I slip your little band of rebels you all would have been starved out years ago." 

Whistler hated to admit that the vampire in front of him was right. The supplies in the Mall hadn't lasted three weeks and it was only the continued info on where the vampires kept the food for their human cattle that had allowed them to remain in the country at all. 

"Now that all that little fuss is over I have some new information for you if you want it." 

"Spit it out Spike, if it's any good I'll let you hole up in the basement, if not you get to enjoy the sunny roof." 

"The news is that the top rank now has a captured a new super, one of her's is it?" Spike took another slug from the bottle as he pointed behind Whistler to where Phoenix was standing. 

"Where is our comrade being kept?" 

"Most of the blood that keeps the Nation running is manufactured outside of the cities on big people farms but all the specials are kept in one place, right here in New York." 

Phoenix found that she was rubbing her neck as Spike looked at her 'what an oddly human reaction' she thought to herself. 

"Can you take us to this place?" 

"Of course but the security is going to be tight and the punishment for me if I'm caught helping a bunch of humans would be bloody harsh, so gotta ask what is in it for me?" 

* * *

"What $&ing use is that short $& going to be in a fight like this," Stalker swore. 

"Every now and then I would hear the technicians who came to check the blood machines talk about large creatures underground, I banking on one of them being…" in the motor pool below the floor began to split open beneath the tankers and suddenly it exploded outward "some of those." 

Pouring from the fresh hole were beasts of many shapes and sizes, the most numerous though were a short yellow skinned humanoid, though thin and gangly they moved large pieces of rubble aside with surprising ease. Around their eyes were dull grey goggles with only thin slits to see through. 

"Gentlemen," Mimic smiled "the cavalry has arrived." 

* * *

**Next Issue**

I learn pacing and how to follow my issue notes….nah not likely to happen I'm afraid; I'm far too much of a rambling writer.


	4. Chapter 3

**Issue #03**

**Beginning of the End**

**_by Gary Jones_**

The tunnels were tight and claustrophobic, the small amount of light being given off by the torches the Moloids carried barely allowed their three visitors to see more than two feet in front of them.

Carried at the front of the group, on the shoulders of a group of Moloids, was the hero from another dimension know as Mimic.

He had used his uncanny abilities to take on the form and powers of anyone he has touched to change into the Mole Man, the ruler of the underground kingdoms of Earth.

From the mental link he now shared with the Moloids, Mimic could see what had become of the underground kingdoms since the vampires had taken over.

The greatest loss the vampires felt was the loss of the wild hunt, they missed their prey's smell of fear as they chased them, and they longed for the look of fear in a person's eye before they sank their fangs into their victim's throat.

With human now farmed as cattle, the underground races were the only choice left. The fact that this new prey was located underground away from the harmful rays of the sun meant that entire days could be spent hunting and killing.

Stalker hated being in the restrictive space of the underground tunnels, the enclosed space made his enhanced agility and speed next to useless.

Steve Rogers could only look on with wonder at the creatures that carried him high on their shoulders. It had been a little over a month since he had been selected to become the United States first Super-Soldier. The drugs, surgery and the radio-active vita-rays had all served to transform him into Captain America.

Some of the larger creatures that Mimic had summoned were pulling down the tunnels behind them to prevent anyone from following, but even through the tons of rubble they pulled down, the cries of blood hungry vampires could be heard as they tore futility at the tons of Earth separating them from their prey.

The dim light and restrictive space of the tunnels made it hard to mark the passage of time; hours seemed to pass until at the end of another length of tunnels a bright light could be seen.

The opened up into a massive cavern that could easily have housed a city block. The light came from above, formed by a mass of glowing stones, it was unknown if these light giving stones where natural formations or had been artificially made.

Mimic, in the form of the Mole Man could feel his control over the underground creatures being disrupted and a few moments after he had felt the first effects the link had completely vanished.

The silent convoy kept moving toward the centre of the cavern, where Captain America, Stalker and especially Mimic were shocked to discover the real Mole Man, sitting on a throne of worn rocks.

"Welcome to my home," the Mole Man coughed as he rose to his feet, most of his weight being taken by his cane. He looked tried and old, and several bite marks could be made out upon his body "but is it as friend or foe."

Selene kneeled in front of the Vampire Lord and his Queen, if her heart was still capable of beating it would now be pounding so hard as to burst from her chest.

"Tell me again what you just said," the Vampire Lord asked, his face obstructed by the shadows in the barely lit throne room.

"The new meat we brought in facilitated an escape amongst a small group of captives," Selene said, omitting the fact that the security systems had alerted her to the escape attempt but she had chosen to let them escape so she could have the fun of capturing them again.

"Yes, I thought that was what you said," the Vampire Lord gestured with his hands to the several powerfully built vampiric bodyguards who stood motionless at either side of the doors to the throne room.

"Take her to the sub-level, I hear the Lowlifes have worn out another of their toys, Selene here will be a more than adequate replacement."

Selene's beautiful but pale face was fixed with horror as the guards seized her by the shoulders and hauled her to her feet.

The Lowlifes, as they were known, were those vampires that had… gone wrong, something had happened during their transformation into a member of the undead and they had been left as little more than mindless zombies.

Despite their lack of intelligence, the Lowlifes were incredibly strong and had an absolute loyalty to the Vampire Lord; they could be used as shock-troops if an ambitious Master Vampire ever tried to take the ruling position.

They also had a voracious sexual appetite and if someone displeased the Vampire Lord, male or female, they were given to the Lowlifes to do with as they pleased.

Selene was dragged kicking and screaming from the Throne Room, her cries a mixture of pleading and threats.

"Now she was a rather useful tool, it will be a shame to lose her services," the Vampire Queen leaned forward on her seat, her face coming from the shadow, her long blonde hair hanging off her shoulder.

"I've warned you about getting too attached to the help before now, haven't I Darla," the Vampire Lord rose from his seat, he was clothed entirely in black and wore a long black leather coat, his black hair was cut short.

"Now Angelus, you know mistakes can happen," Darla stood and wrapped her arms around her immortal lover "you do remember what that Slayer nearly did to you in Istanbul, don't you?"

"I try to forget that incident," Angelus half grinned as he remember when he though he had defeated the Slayer, only for her to stab him with a stake as he drank from her. The stake had missed his heart by only a fraction of an inch.

"So you won't send Selene to the Lowlifes then my love," Darla asked before playfully biting the neck of Angelus.

"Oh! She's still going," he replied "but maybe just for a couple of weeks," he grinned before passionately kissing his immortal love.

"Come on you buggers let me back in, it's getting a little toasty out here," Spike pounded on a steel security door on the East side of the mall.

Spike had refused to divulge the exact location of the blood farm where the captured Stalker had been taken. Fixit had been ready to pull Spike's head from his shoulders but Phoenix had managed to convince him that they could gather no information from a pile of dust. It had been Sue, who had mentioned that at the moment the sun was high in the sky, in a few minutes it would pass over and begin its decent into the East.

"Tell us what we want to know or you burn," Fixit grinned through the security grill "personally I'm hoping you don't."

The sun was slowly moving into the East and the shadow the building cast was shrinking as it did so. Spike could only watch as the edge of the shadow crawled closer, threatening to bathe him in the burning, literally in his case, light of day.

"Ok! You win you buggers," Spike pressed himself against the door, desperately hugging the last piece of shadow "they take all the new supers to a place called the Baxter Building on Manhattan."

The three dimension tossed heroes looked at each other, the name known to each of them but Sue had once called the building her home.

"Thanks for that," Fixit said grinning through the door's small security grill, before he turned and began to walk away back into the innards of the Mall.

"Joe," Sue said sternly as she barred the grey man's path "you said you'd let him back inside if he told you where Stalker was likely to be."

"Yeah, I did, didn't I," Fixit said as he looked down at the petite blonde woman. She had a fire in her eyes that reminded him of his fellow Avenger Carol Barton, the woman called Hawkeye.

"You sure I can't just leave him out there," Fixit said with disappointment in his voice.

"JOE."

"Ok. Ok. A guy ain't allowed to have any fun around here," Fixit took one huge stride back toward the door and opened it, wrenching it from its hinges as he did so.

"About bloody time," Spike ran inside, patting out the few small flames that had began to burn his clothes "another minute and you would have been sweeping me up with a dustpan and brush."

"That can still be arranged if you're messin' with us," Fixit said to the English born vampire as he pulled him up to eye level by the front of his dark red t-shirt "and just to make sure you ain't, guess whose leading us there."

"Well that is a &$ing horrible smell," Stalker complained as he and the others had been led by the Mole Man into a smaller side chamber. Mimic had now returned to his real male form.

Captain America stood over the source of the foul stench and even though he was nearly gagging, he could not tear himself away from what he saw.

The body was badly decomposed and had obviously spent a great deal of time in the waters, such was its state but it was the outfit that clothes the body that kept Steve Rogers gaze fixed to it, underneath the tattered brown overalls a more colourful cloth could be made out, it was a more militaristic version of the Captain America costume that he had been given.

"The few creatures that remain to me that are capable of travelling through the water dragged the body in here a few days ago," the Mole Man leant on his cane, his age weighing on him far more than it should "he was found in the remains of an iceberg, he would never have even realised he was drowning but at least he was spared the terror that the world has become."

The Mole Man turned and began to walk out of the chamber "the vampires will soon come again to feed; I would advise that you find somewhere to hide."

"So are you going to take the costume?" Mimic asked the silent Cap.

"Who gives a rats arse about some costume, I'm going to find a hole to hide in before I become a life time donor to the blood bank," Stalker said as he began to follow the Mole Man out of the chamber, he stopped when he heard the blood hungry cries of a group of vampires, he could just make them out across the other side of the cavern where they were feeding on a terrified group of Moloids.

"Not the costume but I think I can find a use for this," Cap knelt down and carefully unfastened the front of the overalls and pulled out a round shield, with a white star at its centre surrounded by blue, with two red stripes and a white one between them.

The shields aged leather straps creaked as Cap positioned the shield on his right forearm. Even though he had never carried anything like it before, it immediately felt to Cap that he had carried it all his life.

"I'm not just going to hide in a hole while innocent creatures are terrorised," Cap walked to the side chambers entrance and looked back at Mimic and Stalker "I don't expect either of you to come but I would appreciate the back up."

"You don't even have to ask Cap," Mimic said as he stepped forward "and I even have the perfect body to give these vamps a roasting." Mimic activated his powers and changed his form into that of Johnny Storm, the man on his world who was known as the Human Torch.

"You guys are $£&ing nuts going out there," Stalker shouted at the two men.

"No-one expects you to go," Cap replied to Stalker as he moved past the entrance "only you have to live with your conscience."

The Moloids screamed silently as the pack of five vampires moved among them, feeding and rendering flesh at will.

"You're a fat one aren't you," Dominic Petros held the Moloid up to face level by the poor creatures throat, it wriggled fruitlessly in the vampiric mutants grasp, its poor memory recalling vividly what had happened to so many of its fellow Moloids.

"Just hurry up and eat the thing will you," another member of the feeding party cried out as she tossed a drained Moloid aside "I swear Avalanche if we didn't need your power to get us into these places, there is no way you would be allowed to come along."

"Why don't you shut your mouth," Avalanche said back with a sneer before sinking his fangs into the neck of the Moloid he was holding, the creature struggled for only a moment before going deathly still, resigned as it was to its fate.

Avalanche didn't even have time to scream as he was consumed by a massive column of fire.

"Damn I didn't mean to burn up the Moloid as well," Mimic said as he watched the vampire and its prey burn to dust "I should have trained more in using Storm's powers."

"You probably did the thing a favour," Cap replied as he wrestled with the female vampire that Avalanche had been talking to, eventually managing to throw her to the ground, and using his newly acquired shield to remove her head.

The taking off life repulsed Captain America but he knew that in war sometimes there was no other choice.

"That wasn't a very nice thing to do now was it?" the vampire talking was dressed in a smart dark blue business suit and had a neatly trimmed grey beard, he wiped a small amount of blood from the corner of his mouth with a monogrammed handkerchief "but how rude of me not to introduce myself."

The vampire folded his handkerchief neatly before putting it back in the right-hand breast pocket of his jacket "my name is Deacon Frost."

* * *

**Next Issue**

Deacon Frost makes a shocking offer and the other Lost encounter the Vampire Lord, Angelus.


	5. Chapter 4

**Issue #04**

**Soulful**

**_by Gary Jones_**

Steve Rogers, Captain America, and Calvin Rankin the Mimic, who was using the shape and powers of Johnny Storm, the Human Torch of his world, faced off against three powerful vampires in the Mole Man's underground kingdom.

Deacon Frost was the leader of the vampire trio; he was dress in a smart blue suit and had a neatly trimmed grey beard.

The next vampire, who was dressed in a scruffy leather jacket and jeans, was known as Frank Drake, and it was rumoured amongst the other vampires that he was a direct descendant of the mighty Dracula himself.

The last of the vampires had been eyeing Captain America with a seething hatred, he was Lord John Falsworth and he was the Nazi agent known as Baron Blood. Dressed in the uniform of a Nazi general, he represented everything that Captain America had been created to fight.

"I known not what sort of deal you wish to offer these mortals Deacon but you will have to give it to the flaming one. Zemo denied me the kill of Captain America once before and you will not do so today."

The Baron's features twisted until they were some nightmarish cross between man and bat. His finger nails became a form of talon and Blood took a vicious swipe at the Captain.

The talons raked across Cap's chest, drawing blood but in truth he didn't feel the wounds "You'll have to do better than that," Cap spat back through gritted teeth.

His body ached not only from the months of being drained as food for the vampires, nor was it the near constant fighting that he had been involved in since being freed by the strange man black but it was also the fact that he had never completed the course of vita-ray treatment that was to have stabilised the effects of the super-soldier serum on his body.

"Pathetic meat," Blood threw another punch at Cap but this time the sentinel of liberty managed to raise his newly acquired shield to block the blow, the force of which still managed to throw him back onto the ground.

"If you think I'm going to stand still and let you guys triple team Cap," Mimic flared up, using the copied powers and form of the Human Torch to block the path of two other vampires "then you are very much mistaken," Mimic wasn't worried about Cap, he had seen the one of his world come through tougher challenges than this.

"Why my dear boy," Deacon Frost smiled, his white teeth with their enlarged incisors were stained with the blood of the Moloids that he had drained "you can be assured that neither I or my associate," Frost gestured to Frank Drake how was standing by his side "have the slightest interest in interfering."

"In fact it'd probably work out better for us if your guy won," Frank Drake pulled a cigar out of his jacket pocket and placed it in his mouth, he then removed a Zippo from another pocket and tried to light it "ain't got no breath to take a drag," Drake muttered as he tossed the stogie aside.

"Like you really expect me to believe that you want us walking feedbags to come out on top," Mimic readied himself from the attack that he was sure was coming.

"Believe what you wish boy but the truth of the matter is if your friend comes out on top then we will have the beginnings of an agreement," Frost smiled and for some reason, which Mimic for the life of him could not figure out, Mimic trusted him.

"So you do not plan to offer your friends any assistance," the Mole Man stood at the back of a secluded cave at the very back of the rock chamber he called home, a last few loyal Moloids surrounded him, ready to ay down their lives to protect their lord and master from another ravaging.

"Well if they were my friends I might very well be tempted to leap into a pitched battle against vampires who want to use me like a slurpy machine," Stalker turned from the mouth of the cave where he was watching Cap's fight with Baron Blood "but its a temptation that I think I'd be able to resist," Stalker grinned underneath his mask.

"Is carrying me around in this bloody sack really necessary," the vampire known as William the Bloody, more commonly referred to as Spike, complained.

"No, no it isn't," the sack was slung over the shoulder of the grey behemoth known as Joe Fixit.

"Any chance of letting me out then," came a muffled plea from within.

"Sure there this is," Joe flung the sack heavily onto the flat surface of the building he was observing the Baxter building from "let me open it right now," he opened the mouth of the sack a small amount and the sunlight began to creep inside.

"Ok close the sack, close the sack," the vampire within began to burn at daylights touch.

"Are you sure, I really wouldn't mind letting you out," Joe taunted.

"Yes, leave me in the sack, I don't bloody care," a sigh of relief came from within as the sack was closed, swiftly followed by a string of expletives as Fixit swung it harshly onto his back once again.

"Phoenix is still inside gibbering to herself in Russian," Sue Storm, the young woman known as the Human Torch, walked out through the access door and onto the roof, ending up standing next to Joe "So how's Spike doing."

"He was just telling me how much he was enjoying his sack," Fixit grinned broadly "think Phoenix is going to be up for this, I don' wanna end up having to carry all the slack."

"Somehow I don't believe you and despite her babbling, I do think she'll be ok," Sue looked across at the building that on her world didn't exist "I don't think this building will be as hard to hit Four Freedoms Plaza, I mean time seems to be out of whack on this world but from the outside it doesn't look as if Reed has done anything to the building."

Captain America crouched and swung a leg out at Baron Blood, who leapt swiftly over and attempted to land a knee but Cap rolled and landed a kick in the vampire's gut, while the blow staggered Blood he just laughed it off.

"What were you trying to do American, wind me," Blood delivered a kick to Cap that sent him skidding back into a wall, the shield slipping from his grasp "I'm a vampire you fool, I don't need to breath."

"Now why don't you just be a good boy and roll over and die," Blood said as he stalked toward, baring his fangs ready to drink the super-soldiers blood.

"Roll over and die?" Cap spoke as he spat out blood, his fingers reaching for the shield "that is something no American will ever do to your kind Nazi."

Cap sprang to his feet, shrugging off the pain that was building behind his eyes, and threw the shield with all his strength. The symbol that had inspired so many flew with uncanny accuracy, its edge serving the vampires head, afterward hitting a stalagmite and rebounding back into Cap's grasp.

"Now that could come in handy," Cap said with surprise, just before he passed out.

"So we ready to go in," Phoenix asked as she joined the others on the roof.

"Just hanging on for you babe," Fixit said without removing his eyes from the Baxter Building "now if Sue will just let me off my vamp in a bag, we can get going."

"Sorry but he's played fair with us so you don't get to kill him," Sue looked up at Joe and smiled "but that doesn't mean you can't hurt him a bit."

Fixit grinned again and began to swing the sack Spike was held in around and around, it was spinning faster than the eye could see before Fixit let it go.

The Sack quickly disappeared from view, leaving Fixit booming with laughter "Now let's get in there, crush some skulls and pull that idiot Stalker out."

"We did great there didn't we guys," Stalker exclaimed as he bounded over to where Mimic was helping the weakened Cap to his feet "whoa, what the f$ are they still doing here," Stalker skidded to a halt as he noticed Frost and Drake standing in the shadows.

"They claim to have something of value to offer us," Mimic replied with distain in his voice "so why don't you run off and hide before I kill you myself."

"I'd like to see you try copycat," Stalker mocked.

"I'd be more then happy to," Mimic leant Cap up against a rocky outcropped and walked slowly toward Stalker, his flame building in intensity as he did so.

"Would you children care to finish your squabbles another time," Deacon Frost walked out of the shadow, shielding his eyes from the glare of Mimic's flame "despite being immortal, Mr. Drake and myself do not have time to waste."

"Great now I'm being given lessons on my manners by the undead," Stalker complained. Mimic stopped walking toward him but didn't lower the flames covering his body.

"If you are being lectured on manners, it is because you need to be," Frost sneered at Stalker.

"Yeah man, I know zombies with better personalities than you," Drake said as he joined Frost "and they're all 'brains, eat brains, uurrgghh', you know all that kind of shit…what."

Cap, Mimic, Stalker and even Deacon Frost looked at Drake with amazement at his ramble.

"Anyway," Frost continued "many of the high ranking vampires are unhappy, both with the current ruler and the situation with the humans, they miss the days of the hunt and lack the resources to hunt something other than humans," Frost gestured over to the bodies of several Moloids.

"Pardon me but that's not our concern," Cap moved to stand next to Stalker and Mimic.

"No but what if I were to tell you that," Frost pulled an envelope out of his pocket "that within this, there is way to hand the united states back to humanity."

Stalker threw his head back in laughter "I'd say you're talking absolute shi…"

"Let him finish," Cap cut Stalker off "but I'm guessing there is a catch isn't there."

"Quite right Captain," Frost smiled "inside this envelope is a page from an ancient mystical tome called the Darkhold, the spell written on it is capable of returning the infected human and the demon vampires would be given back their souls."

"But let me guess you've altered the spell so you would be safe?" Mimic quizzed.

"Quite right, the spell has been changed so only those vampires of a more mystical nature would be spared."

"So why haven't you cast this spell yourself," Cap asked.

"Because to complete it you would need an object called the Orb of Thesula, and the only existing one is contained within the private quarters of the ruling vampire."

"Why don't you get undressed and come to bed Angelus," Darla purred in her most seductive voice, she could see that he was not paying attention to her however, despite her best efforts "why do you keep that awful thing about my love," Darla draped herself seductively over her lover Angelus as he sat at the end of their black satin sheet covered bed.

"Because it reminds me that I have to be vigilant against my enemies," Angelus stood up from the end of the bed and gently, almost reverently, place the Orb of Thesula back safely in the bullet proof glass case that protected it "if I had just been one minute later," he whispered as he closed and locked the cabinet door.

"And never ask me a question again," Angelus delivered a powerful backhand to Darla's cheek.

"I know you like it rough lover," Darla practically flew off the bed, delivering a powerful kick to Angelus' guy which caused him to fall to the floor, lying on his back "but that's ok, so do I," she grinned as he straddled her lover's chest, wiping a small drop of dark red blood from the corner of his mouth.

"Must be why we're so good for each other," Angelus pulled Darla down to him by the hair, their lips were mere fractions from each others when an alarm began to sound.

"There are time I really hate being in charge," Angelus slowly ran his eyes up the supple naked form of his lover "but there have been compensations."

He flexed his chest throwing Darla from him "get dressed," he said as he walked out of the bedroom.

Angelus swiftly moved through the private apartment he kept atop the Baxter Building and when he walked through its front door into the corridor outside, he was confronted by a rush of activity.

"You," he reached out a hand and grabbed one of the guard's by the throat, pulling him to his face "what is going on?"

"Three intruders sir," the guard managed to chock through his crushed throat "a big grey one and a woman made of metal are tearing up the loading bay, another one made of flame is stopping reinforcements getting in."

"Damn," Angelus squeezed and the guard's head came off "made by an infection, what else can you expect," Angelus said dismissively as the guard's body crumpled to ash.

"Wish the Avengers'd let me cut loose like this," Fixit dug his huge grey hands into the tarmac of the Baxter Buildings loading bay and tore out two massive chunks, throwing them at the remaining guards who were on the gantries.

"How ya hanging over there kid," Fixit called over to Sue Storm who was blocking the entrances to the loading bay with her flame.

I'm doing great so far," the flame covered teen shouted back "but I heard one of them say that they are going to get protective suits, so one of you guys should probably start checking out the cells up there."

"I will do it," Phoenix spoke matter of fact tone, switched to her human form and used her telekinetic powers to flung herself up onto the gantry above, once there she switch back to her steel form and began to tear the nearest door off "not in there," she said coldly as she moved onto the next door.

"So do you really think we can trust Frost," Mimic asked Cap, the form of Johnny Storm given over to his own.

"I have no idea Mimic but at this point we have no real choice," Cap was at the head of the trio as they walked through the rock tunnel that the vampire Avalanche had craved through into the Mole Man's kingdom.

"Let's just hope it comes out into that abandoned warehouse like he said it would and not into another blood factory," Stalker said as he followed at the rear "you know you could really turn back into Torch and give us a little light more light than these glow rocks of the Mole Man's give off you know."

"Sure I could," Mimic replied, fed up with the amount of whining Stalker had been doing since they entered the tunnel "but as there seems to be a smell of gas, probably from a ruptured gas line, it might give us a little more light than you were looking for."

"Well getting blown up would put a bit of crimp in my day," Stalker sighed "well could you at least become a hot chick again if I have to follow you, a nice ass was second on my list."

"God, anything to shut you up," Mimic concentrated, his form shifted and in seconds he had become a duplicate of Wanda Maximoff, the Scarlet Witch "and considering that I am still naked, I would consider it a personal favour if you would keep quite for the rest of this reality."

"Holy…sorry," Stalker quickly cut himself off as he followed close behind Mimic, never once taking his eyes off the duplicated rear of the Scarlet Witch.

"Can't I trust you idiots to even look after my private stock," Angelus walked through a group of guards who were standing in front of the flame barrier.

"But sire we can't get through without being killed," protested one guard he had a little more courage than the others.

"Let's test that out then shall we?" Angelus gave the guard a quick, unexpected shove straight into the flame barrier.

"What do you know he was right," Angelus smirked as the guard just disintegrated "now where the hell are the anti-fire suits," he yelled.

"I'll check now sire," all the remaining guards said in unison before running off and fleeing away.

"I'm going to enjoy killing whoever is behind this," Angelus snarled as he stared into the flames, making out the three figures moving beyond.

"So the Orb of thingy is at the top of that," Stalker said as his group looked at the Baxter Building.

"Frost said it was being held in the penthouse," Mimic said while still in the form of Wanda Maximoff, arms crossed over her chest and turning away from Stalker whose eyes were getting a little too friendly.

"We should be able to use what ever is going on at the front of the building to sneak up," Cap turned to Stalker "do you think you can use that webbing of yours to get up there."

"Should be able to," Stalker shrugged "gibe me the damn spell and I'll give it a go," Stalker held out his hand and Cap placed the envelope with the Darkhold spell into his grasp.

"If I pull this off I expect to be able to cop a feel of those," Stalker pointed at Mimic's duplicate of the Scarlet Witch's chest "I ain't into looking and not touching," Stalker extended his right arms and fired off a web toward the Baxter Building.

"Thank god he's gone, Mimic said as he shifted back into his real form "he hasn't really done anything but he gives me the creeps."

"I know what you mean Cap replied "I used to get the same vibe off some of the other candidates for the super-soldier program, I'd hate to have thought what would have happened if they had gotten the serum instead of me."

"At last," Angelus said as he threw his hands into the air "give me that damn suit, I'm going through first," he snatched the closest of the protective suits and quickly pulled it on "lets do this," he paused for just a moment as he looked at the mass of flames in front of him but it was only for a moment because he soon just jumped straight through.

"What the…" Sue shouted out as a figure bursting through the flames slammed right into her.

"Joe I think we have the beginning of a problem," Sue managed to fly from the grasp of the vampire who had just come through her flame barrier and whom was swiftly being followed through by others.

"Not a problem hothead Joe said as he strode toward the growing group of vampires "just means more heads for me to crack."

"God I hate playing hero," Stalker grumbled as he kicked in the glass patio door that led to the penthouse bedroom "whoa spot of déjà vu there."

Stalker spotted the Orb in the glass case exactly where Frost has said it would be "let's get this over and done with," he grumbled.

"And just who are you to enter a lady's bed chamber uninvited," Darla walked from the en-suite bathroom, a white towel covering her wet body "are you one of the problems that my Angelus went to take care of."

Stalker's eyes moved quickly between the Orb and Darla's long slender legs "decisions, decisions," he sighed "look darling as much I'd enjoy…well to enjoy you, I really have to do the superhero bit, it's a pain I know but don't worry I'll get to you eventually."

Stalker turned away but found that Darla leapt straight onto his back and attempted to bite his neck.

"Puughh what is your clothing made from," Darla spat before being flipped off by Stalker.

"You know babe I was going to go easy on you but now I'll show you what a bite is really all about," Stalker pulled off his mask and grinned, revealing his enlarged incisors "I may not be able to wall crawl but I did get a little venom," before Darla could react, Stalker dragged her up by her hair and sank his teeth into her neck.

Almost immediately she began to spasm and Stalker just let her fall to the floor.

Leaving her there he walked over to the case and shattered it with one blow "now lets get this done," Stalker pulled the envelope with the spell in it from the waistband of his costume, pulled out the page inside and then grabbed the Orb.

"Ok here goes. Quod perditum est, invenietur.

Te implor, Doamne, nu ignora aceasta rugaminte.

Nici mort, nici al fiintei. Lasa orbita sa fie vasul care-i va transporta, sufletul la el.

Asa sa fie! Asa sa fie!

Acum!

Acum!"

The orb glowed for a moment and then a burst of light filled the rooms like a liquid before vanishing.

"Well that was weird," Stalker tossed the orb, which now seemed to be duller than when he first picked it up.

"Soul soul soul," Darla muttered as Stalker stood over her "I have a soul," through the pain of Stalker's venom she began to cry.

"Well now as we have a few minutes spare and things downstairs seem to be quietening down, lets have a little fun," Stalker pulled on his mask, picked up Darla and threw her on the bed "and I'm glad that spell worked because it makes it more fun for me when women can emotionally hurt, after all the physical pain goes away but I like them to remember me."

"I am afraid that Stalker is not contained in any of the cells and all of the people within seem to be in a highly dangerous physical condition," Phoenix stood next to Fixit and Sue, both of which were looking at the vampires who were on the floor moaning.

"Anyone got an idea of what happened," Fixit asked as he kicked the nearest vamp to him.

"Where I am, who are all you people," Angelus sat against a wall, the mask of his suit torn off in a panic.

"I'm not sure but that guy doesn't even know who he is, I'm thinking Wanda or Jennifer at the mall must have put a psychic whammy on all these guys," Sue kept her flame up "best of all these fire proof suits seem to be made of unstable molecules, I think I just found myself a new costume," Sue said as she felt the fabric of the suit nearest to her.

Sue searched around the people on the floor for someone near her size, when she found one she quickly stripped the guy and pulled on the suit, which was all black with enlarged dark blue shoulder pieces "well it does work," Sue flamed on and the costume didn't burn.

"Hey, Phoenix are you ok," Sue asked the cosmic being who was holding her hand in her hands.

"I feel strange like I am in two places at one and I sense something is about to happen."

As soon as Phoenix finished talking all the Lost in the loading bay, Stalker in the penthouse and Cap and Mimic, were swallowed by purple energy portals.

**_Epilogue One_**

"It is done, the spell has been used," in a dark crypt underneath a disused Church Deacon Frost and Frank Drake stood, charms strategically placed to protect them from the spell.

"Now only we two remain," Drake smiled as he tried to drag on a cigar again, only to throw it away in disappointment.

"Only we two for now but soon he will arise again and take his rightful place as master of this world," Frost ran his hand across the lid of a stone coffin, removing the dust and showing the name 'Vlad Dracul.'

**_Epilogue Two_**

"Is everything ok Professor," In a small Salem Centre coffee shop, Phoenix sat across from the founder of the X-Men, taking a moment to relax after they had spent a busy day shopping to get Phoenix a new wardrobe.

"Quite," Professor Xavier responded, rubbing his temples with two fingers of each hand "It was really quite odd but for just a moment there is seemed that you were in two places at once, it was quite an odd sensation but it has passed. Now what about that new hair style you wanted."

* * *

**_Authors Notes_**

Well there you have it, the end to the first arc of Lost, hope you all enjoyed reading it as much as I have writing it.

I decided to send Phoenix home in this issue because she is currently appearing in the pages of X-Men over at the X-Verse Imprint, if you're a fan I hope you'll head across and follow her adventures there.

Come back next time to see the little adventure that I like to call "Not Another Shameless Tie-In."


	6. Chapter 5

**Issue #05**

**"Your Unfriendly Neighbourhood Spider-Man."**

**_by Gary Jones_**

"He flies through the air with the greatest of ease - THWIP - that dashing young spider on his flying – THWIP – on his flying…uh?...web" Spider-Man grinned broadly as he let go of the web line he swung on, the people in the office building he was heading toward gasped in fear as it looked like he was about to hit the building.

At the very last possible moment Spider-Man let loose another web-line to an adjacent building, which served as an anchor and changed his path at the last possible moment.

A booming laugh escaped his lips as he continued his journey through the city toward the building of the Daily Bugle, if there was one thing about being Spider-Man he loved it was the excitement of the web-swinging. A new selection of Spider-Man photographs for sale to its publisher, J Jonah Jameson, were safely fixed into a web-backpack, the money from their sale would be invaluable to himself and Mary Jane, now that she was three months pregnant, they needed every penny they could raise.

"Aaarrrrgghhh," a massive burst of his spider-sense tore through his skull, causing him to lose his grip on his web-line. Spider-Man tried to focus enough to fire another web-line but his spider-sense just wouldn't stop hammering his brain.

The man inside the mask, Peter Parker, began to focus on his wife and unborn child, he had to break through the pain as he had no idea how long he had been falling or how close to the ground now was.

Fortunately for Spider-Man, his last swing had given him enough forward momentum so that he crash landed painfully onto the gravel surfaced roof of an apartment block. He may have picked up scrapes and cuts from the gravel but at least that was better than becoming a spider-street-pizza.

"Man, I wonder what could have set my spider-sense off like that," Spider-Man's head was still pounding but it was now just an extreme headache and not the skull splitting blaring of his spider-sense.

"Sorry but that would have been me Peter," a voice came from the small slanted top of the roof access hut, Spider-Man looked up and saw….

"Ezekiel," he was excited to see the older man who had mysteriously come into his life moths ago, with powers and abilities to mimic his own "man I thought you'd cleared out of town; I haven't seen you since MJ got pregnant."

"Listen I don't have much time," as he spoke Ezekiel clutched his head, pain etched on his face "I can't keep it inside me for much longer, you have to get to Mary Jane and get her out of this city and away from me before it's too late."

"Ezekiel, if something is wrong we can get through this together," Spider-Man used the smallest fraction of his leaping ability to vault up next to his friend.

"Nothing at all now," Ezekiel's voice suddenly became grizzly and dark and in one swift motion he gripped Spider-Man in a bear hug, pinning his arms to the side.

"Zek, just what the hell do you think you are doing," Spidey tried to flex his muscles to break Ezekiel's grip but he found himself unable to do so.

"Surprised aren't you," Ezekiel leered "if I can boost this weaklings strength to hold you, imagine what is going to happen when I take you," the possessed Ezekiel shifted position to look Spider-Man directly in his lenses "and then your pretty wife."

"Leave her out of THIS," at the mention of Mary Jane, Spider-Man finally found the strength he needed, flexing his chest muscles and breaking free from Ezekiel's grip.

He shoved Ezekiel at the same time as leaping backward to a new position on the roof's flat surface "come on Ezekiel, your better than this," Spider-Man emptied a web-cartridge onto his friend but he didn't expect it to hold.

"He never told you what he did to come into possession of his abilities did he, the atrocities he had to commit before I would bestow even a fraction of my power unto him."

Spider-Man screamed again and fell to his knees as a vision of the past ran through his very mind. He could see into the past of the man he had come to call his friend, Ezekiel. Whole villages destroyed, there children murdered, its woman raped.

"Where did this happen," Spider-Man managed to croak out.

"Does it matter," Ezekiel said as he came to stand over him "some country in the south of this continent that once worshiped me," he looked around the all in his view "just like this city will worship me once I have taken you for my vessel."

Ezekiel reached down and placed his hands on either side of Spider-Man's head, who found himself powerless to resist as he witnessed the horrors that Ezekiel had committed as if they were his own.

Black tendrils of light flowed from Ezekiel's body and into Spider-Man, the process took no more than seconds but for both men involved, it was like an eternity.

Ezekiel collapsed to the floor, just as Spider-Man rose to his feet with a new vigour. As the last shreds of consciousness left Ezekiel, guiding him into a restless sleep, all he could hear was a dark voice laughing, a voice that had once been his own.

* * *

**Five Months Later**

A massive burst of light cracked the darkness of the dirty, litter strewn alleyway, a light that as it faded left behind five figures new to this world.

"Man remind me never to take that trip again," Mimic rose to his feet "those trips through realities where a lot easier when we had the Vanisher on the team," Mimic made use of his powers and shifted his form, first into a copy of Mystique, then he used her powers to appear as himself but dressed in a fine Italian suit.

"Where are we...now?" Captain America struggled to his feet, the past few day's activities finally catching up on his body.

"Sorry to interrupt," Stalker pulled at the waistband of his costume which had started to feel odd "but could we pay more attention to those giant spider-things that are crawling toward us from each end of the alley."

The three of them turned around to face Stalker and could now see clearly the misshapen monstrosities that were coming closer to them with every passing second.

"Defensive positions," Captain America struggled to his feet, every part of his body aching from the effort "then we try and push for the street, this alley benefits them in this fight," he recalled all the lessons given to him by the best military minds at Project: Rebirth, number one being 'don't let the enemy pick the battleground.'

"What you'll do is come with me if you want to live," Ezekiel had felt the Lost arrive in his reality, he wasn't sure how but he suspected that his version of the spider-sense was changing now that the spider-spirit had left him.

"No-one can say that after the Terminator movies you know," Stalker said as the closest of the spider-demons lunged at the group. He reacted in an instant and even though he had only had his web-shooters for a matter of days he handled them like an expert, snagging the spider-demon with a web-line and smashing it into another of its kind "next thing I know you'll be spouting lines like, I'll be back."

"Look we don't have time for funnies; these are only scouts," Ezekiel leapt deftly from the wall as a spider-demon charged toward him, only to meet a blot of cosmic flame, courtesy of Sue Storm "the main hunters don't leave the nest in Central Park unless they find some food of the super-powered variety or under the orders of their master."

"Just why should we trust you buddy," Fixit demanded to know "just give me one good reason."

"Well," Ezekiel mused for a moment "how about I'm not the one who is trying to eat you," Ezekiel couldn't help but smile at a smaller spider-demon gnawing futility on Fixit's leg, its teeth unable to pierce his super-tough grey hide.

"The man has a point Joe and we need a place for Cap here to rest," Sue thumbed at Cap who even despite his weakened state was wrestling with one of the demons, using his shield to block the creature's poison laced fangs.

"Fine! We follow the wall crawler," Fixit snatched the demon attacking Cap and casually threw it away, a small plume of dust rising from the building that it impacted into "but the moment there is any funny business," he cracked his knuckles and sneered at Ezekiel.

* * *

Mimic had transformed himself into a duplicate of the Psylocke from his reality, a blonde English woman with telekinetic powers that carried a pinkish energy signature and was using her abilities to carry the weakened Cap, who had lapsed into unconsciousness. 

While Fixit bounded from roof to roof, nearly caving some of the in, Sue flew near him. He could tell she was a confident women but it was unnerving him slightly how closing she stuck to him at times.

Stalker on the other hand was having the time of his life. Not only had he got to take some of his pent up frustrations out in some mindless violence but he was finally getting in some good practice with the web-shooters that Kingpin had given him. The short hops to MJ's hotel room, then to the penthouse of the vampire lord and that encounter with, what did he call himself again 'Red Wind' something like that, had barely given him a taste of the freedom that swinging on the end of a thin line, high above the city streets, could give.

Ezekiel was highly suspect of the black clad figure swinging just behind him. He wore a pair of borrowed web-shooters but had not taken up a costume as it felt too much like a betrayal to a man he had already cruelly hurt.

It was some kind of buzzing in the back of his mind that had led him to the alley to see the arrival of the visitors, a buzzing that grew stronger the closer the man in the black costume got to him. The way he moved, the way he swung on a web-line, it was almost like…but no it couldn't be him, Peter was still possessed by the leader of the spider-demons that were terrorising the city.

"So old man, where are you taking us," Stalker picked up the pace of his swing until he was side by side with Ezekiel "please tell me it's not an abandoned warehouse somewhere because that would really suck."

"We're going to the home of a friend of mine…"

* * *

"Oh you have just got to be kidding me," Stalker shouted as he pulled off his mask "of all the places you could have brought us, you bring us to Queens."

The group once again found themselves in front of the home that had once belonged to Ben and May Parker, a house where just days ago they have faced that couple, transformed into murderous vampires.

"But I suppose I can't complain, I do use this place as a safe house back home," Stalker pulled off his mask and looked at the house, some part of him remembering the happier times.

Ezekiel looked shocked as he saw the face of Peter Parker; it didn't seem possible he thought. But before he could raise any questions a woman's voice pierced the night.

"Peter you're home," Mary Jane passed the three small steps at the front of the house in one leap, a thick white dressing gown was wrapped around her and her feet were bare "I'd almost given up hope of you coming back," Mary Jane wrapped her arms around Stalker but he stood unmoving.

Mary Jane knew in an instant that something was wrong. She did feel her husband's arms wrap around her, didn't feel him return her warm embrace and as she shifted her gaze upward Stalker's blonde hair was the final certainty.

"You're not Peter are you," MJ said, her voice low in sadness.

"Give the girl a gold star," Stalker took a step back as Ezekiel put an arm around MJ.

"Do you think we could all go inside," Ezekiel asked Mary Jane "I don't think the neighbours would like seeing a group of visitors like this in the street."

"Of course, you can all come inside," MJ's eyes found their way to Captain America, who was being supported upright by Mimic, still in his Psylocke form "and I might be able to rustle up something to eat too, as well as some clean clothing."

* * *

**Inside the Parker Household**

"This belonged to the Captain America of our world so it should fit you ok," MJ handed a clothing bag to Cap who had just finished showering and was wrapped in one of Peter Parker's bathrobes, one that was a little too small for his more muscular frame.

Sue had given a very hasty explanation to Mary Jane about the situation the Lost had found themselves in and had gratefully swapped the costume she had gotten on the vampire world for a classic Fantastic Four costume 'something's don't change, no matter what reality you are in,' she had smiled as she pulled it on.

"This is perfect," Cap said as he pulled the cowl down over his face "but this material doesn't feel like the chain-mail in my costume, what sort of metal is it?" he asked.

"It's was a gift from the Black Panther and is a replica right down to the last link but the metal is Vibranium, a special material that absorbs vibration."

"Well it's certainly an excellent fit and a lot lighter than my old uniform," Cap said as he slug his shield over his shoulders, to sit in its usual resting place on his back "but if it was a gift to your Captain America, I don't see how you came to possess it?"

"Ah well the thing is…" MJ ran her hands through her hair "when Peter was last at Avengers Mansion, he borrowed a few things, like your new clothes," she gestured to Cap and Sue "and we used them to…well…" MJ's hands came to rest on her baby filled stomach, her face flushed with red.

"You mean you…oh ewww," Sue pulled a face as playfully brushed herself off with her hands "please tell me it's been washed since then."

"It has," MJ laughed "you're both quite safe."

"I have no idea what you two are talking about," Captain America said, his face flushing red, telling the ladies that he did know really.

"Oh," smiled MJ mischievously "how about we explain a little for you?"

A look of horror came over Cap's face as the two women began to tease him without remorse.

* * *

"Where do you think you're going," Fixit growled from the attic doorway as Stalker opened the skylight.

"Got to get away from this place and that woman, thought I'd go for a spin to clear my head," Stalker had been fighting a near overwhelming desire to kill Mary Jane but he knew better than to give into a rage, especially when Fixit was keeping such a close eye on him. The Kingpin had taught him better than that.

"Just don't screw things up for Spider-Man more than it already is."

"Me?" Stalker replied with a grin under his mask "what could I possibly do that could cause trouble."

* * *

The Scorpion's tail lashed out at the cashiers desk, splintering it into a thousand pieces, he then wrapped it roughly around one of the female tellers and pulled her toward him "if you don't open the vault in the next ten seconds this girl is going to get a taste of my sting," he shouted at the manager who was cringing on the floor.

Venom began to drip from the Scorpion's stinger as the manager hurried to his feet, his age and weight, both of which had passed their best, slowed him up from going any faster.

"Too slow little man," Scorpion dropped the terrified teller from his grasp onto the floor "this girl dies, speed up to save the next one."

The girl could only look on in horror as the venom dripped stinger of the Scorpion came straight at the centre of her chest, only for it to stop inches from her.

"WHAT THE…!" the Scorpion cried out in confusion "that's a blasted web."

"Don't tell me you've forgotten me already?" Stalker stood in the doorway of the bank, the Scorpion's tail held at the end of his web-line.

He had been perched on a rooftop overlooking the bank, giving great consideration to robbing it, when he had observed the Scorpion exiting from the manhole in front and smashing his way inside.

"I thought you'd gone all psycho web-head," Scorpion swished his tale, yanking Stalker toward him "still at least now I get to kill you without having to fight my way through a bunch of monsters," Scorpion growled as he landed a double fisted punch into Stalker's jaw.

The force of Scorpion's punch cancelled out the momentum of his pull, Stalker landed unceremoniously at his feet "even in this dimension you hit like a girl," Stalker spun on the ground, using his legs to knock the Scorpion to the ground before flipping himself upright and resting his right knee on the Scorpions throat.

"The pressure I'm applying now is only choking you," Stalker said so only the Scorpion could hear "with just a little more I could kill you."

The Scorpion struggled for breath but managed to get out a few words "you can't be Spider-Man," he wheezed "dude is set up in the park."

"Never said I was that colourful idiot," Stalker said as he relaxed the pressure on the Scorpions throat a little "just a concerned citizen going about his lawful business."

Stalker's spider-sense had alerted him to the presence of police at the door, their guns trained equally on him and the Scorpion.

They tensed as Stalker webbed up the Scorpion and dragged him outside and dumped him on the bonnet of a squad car. He figured that they hadn't tried to shoot him yet because they weren't sure what to make of him since this world's Spider-Man had gone bad.

A young female officer raised enough courage to approach him, keeping her service pistol aimed directly at his heart. She wouldn't even get a shot off if he wanted her dead but she was kind of cute so he let her have a moment of glory.

"You're under arrest Spider-Man," even though she was shaking her voice remained unwavering.

"I'm not Spider-Man and I'd appreciate you not calling me that again," Stalker aid, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Oh please! You're wearing the black costume you used to wear and have web-shooters on your wrists. You are Spider-Man and you are under arrest."

"Look sweet cheeks," Stalker moved and in a flash took the cop's gun away from her, a move he had done many times before but this time he didn't end it by the snapping of the persons neck "I'm leaving and there isn't a damn thing you can do to stop me."

Stalker flipped backward and fired a web-line at the roof of the bank, quickly reaching the top and then webbing away.

"I guess he really wasn't Spider-Man," the female cop said to her partner as they dragged the Scorpion off the bonnet of the squad car "I met him once before and he was always really polite and full of jokes but that guy was just cold and full of anger."

* * *

Man I still can't believe I didn't kill that bitch," Stalker had stopped on a roof of an old apartment block some distance from the bank "I can't believe that grey prick has got me acting all heroic," Stalker pulled off his mask and punched through the chimney which was standing next to him "man I need to work out some of this frustration."

"Hey Spider, I'm not too fond of the new hair colour but it's nice to see you back in the hero game," a sultry female voice purred from behind Stalker.

Stalker turned around to see the woman behind him, he recognised her as the Black Cat, a minor thief the Kingpin employed every now and then when he didn't want any of his own people connected to a crime.

He had to admit that her costume on this world, a tight fitting black velvet bodysuit with a highly revealing slash that teased just a little too far below her belly button, was a damn site better than the combats she wore on his world.

"And I thought today was going to be a total bust," Stalker smiled as he pulled back on his mask "baby I promise that this is going to hurt, A LOT."

* * *

Next Issue: The team come face to face with the Spider-Demon to free Manhattan from his evil influence but will Stalker arrive in time to help them, or will he let them die. 


End file.
